BATON ROUGE - Fire officials say a family of nine survived an overnight fire on Shenandoah Avenue.

The fire was reported around 3:10 a.m. According to the St. George Fire Department, crews were originally dispatched after smoke started to fill the home and attic space.

The cause of the fire has been deemed accidental and electrical in nature. Fire officials said a battery charger was placed on top of a cardboard box filled with “combustible materials.”

"Either the charger, battery or power cord overheated to provide the heat of ignition. It was still a small fire when extinguished," officials said.

The “combustion gases” then traveled from the small fire in the utility room off the carport into the attic and back down into the living quarters.

Officials say the family was awakened by a carbon monoxide detector which "quite probably saved their lives."

"A family of two adults and seven children survived a rather unremarkable event in the middle of the night," authorities said. "The difference between an inconvenient fire causing minor damage and an unspeakable human and community tragedy, was an item that can be found on big box and home utility store websites costing from $10 to $35."