A small fire filled a New City home with smoke Sunday afternoon, but volunteers from the New City Fire Department were able to extinguish the blaze before it could do extensive damage to the home.

No one was injured in the 1:50 p.m. fire at 45 West Clarkstown Road, where the residents of the house were not at home when the fire broke out.

First Assistant Fire Chief Kenny Flynn said a working alarm system in the home probably saved the house from sustaining severe damage because it alerted authorities to a problem at the home. Flynn said Clarkstown fire inspectors are reviewing the fire, but the blaze appeared to be accidental.

Flynn said that as New City firefighters and Clarkstown police arrived at the home, they could see it was filled with smoke. However, the source of the fire was not immediately visible.

Firefighters who went to the rear of the house, Flynn said, could see through a set of sliding glass doors that the fire appeared to be on top of a table inside the house. Firefighters entered the house through the doors and were able to quickly put out the fire, Flynn said.

However, firefighters were unsure of whether anyone was in the house so they searched the structure to be certain there was no one inside. Flynn said the owners of the house were not at home.

"The alarm system did its job," Flynn said. "We caught the fire quickly, before it could do a lot of damage."

In addition to New City firefighters and Clarkstown police, volunteers from New City Ambulance and Rescue Corps were at the scene of the fire along with members of Rockland Paramedics in case of injury. Neighboring fire departments were on alert in case of other emergencies in the New City area at the time of the fire.