A fire was reported Thursday afternoon in a large house in the 4100 block of St. Joseph Ave.

Firefighters entered the home and removed at least one large, smoldering ember, but the blaze appeared to have spread into the upper reaches of the home. By about 2:30 p.m. smoke was rising from the roof of the home.

Initial reports indicated everyone made it out okay, although there was a reported language barrier with the person reporting the fire.

St. Joseph police were directing traffic, taking turns letting northbound and southbound traffic through. Robidoux Middle School is about a block north, and a lot of departing school buses added to the traffic congestion. The bulk of the fire units cleared the scene by about 4 p.m. and police were able to open traffic lanes in both directions.