Smoke and flames destroyed a single-floor home in Tuckahoe overnight.

Firefighters responded to a call just before 3:30 a.m. at the home located on 231 Marbledale Road in the village.

Officials say the man living at the house, Derek Verner, who is in his late 70s, may have tried to put out the flames himself and ended up with burns on his arms and hands. When the flames became too much, the elderly man escaped through a back door.

Verner was taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx and is expected to recover.

Investigators say it looks as though the fire started in the back of the house. They add that since Verner was a tinker or inventor of sorts, there was a lot of combustible material inside to burn.

It took 25 firefighters nearly an hour to put out the flames. Still no word on an exact cause, but investigators say the fire is not being called suspicious.