Firefighters: Family of four escapes devastating house fire "with the clothes on their backs"
BATON ROUGE - A Baton Rouge family escaped a devastating fire that destroyed their home early Wednesday morning.
St George firefighters were dispatched to the 13000 block of Rampart Court, which is nestled in the cul-de-sac of a neighborhood off Perkins Road, shortly after 4 a.m.
First responders arrived to find a family of four outside of the home, which was engulfed in flames; the two adults and two children said they were awakened by the sound of the blaze and managed to escape with only the clothes on their backs.
They watched a large section of their home's roof collapse as firefighters wrestled the flames.
After a 33-minute battle, firefighters had the blaze under control.
The family walked away from the event uninjured and is being assisted by the Red Cross.
As of 8:56 a.m., St. George's Fire Prevention Bureau found that the blaze originated in the engine compartment of an SUV parked under the home's carport.
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This caused the fire to spread from three vehicles to the home.
Fire officials say this incident was not an act of arson, but "an unfortunate accident."