A Temple family and their pets were able to escape their home Monday evening after a fire broke out.

Temple Fire and Rescue crews were dispatched to the home at 2009 Stagecoach Trail at 8:24 PM. When they arrived, they spotted heavy smoke coming from the house's gable. It didn't take long for them to locate flames in the attic near the home's chimney.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames quickly and had the fire under control by 8:51 PM. However, the house did take some significant damage, as you can see in the photos Temple Fire & Rescue released Monday night.

Fortunately, 8 people inside the home and several pets were able to make it out without injury.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday night.

Firefighters haven't said whether smoke detectors were present in the home, but I'm taking the opportunity to remind everyone that they should have working smoke alarms in their home. Ideally, you want to place one inside and just outside of any room in which someone sleeps, in your kitchen, in your living room, and in any hallways. It'd be a good idea to place one in your garage and attic as well, and your basement if you have one.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2/3 of home fire deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms, or alarms that have been neglected and no longer work.

Install them, and make sure you check and replace the batteries often. A good habit to get into is replacing the batteries in your smoke alarms when you set your clock backward or forward for daylight saving time.

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