By Sanchali Singh
(MILTON, Vt.) A house fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning forced a Milton family of four from their home, NBC5 reported.
Milton Fire Department Chief Chris Poirier said neighbors woke up around 1 a.m. to the sound of popping noises coming from across the street. When they checked to find the source, Poirier said they saw flames coming out from near the garage of a house on Birch Lane.
Neighbors initially tried pounding the front door but couldn’t wake the people inside because of the sound of window air-conditioning units.
According to the fire chief, smoke detectors in the house weren’t going off because the fire was centralized to the garage area.
The neighbors eventually took to pounding on the side of the house, which woke the residents up and allowed them and their pets to escape before the fire overtook the home.
Firefighters from departments in Milton, Colchester and Georgia responded to the scene and put the blaze out within an hour.
Poirier said almost 80% of the home is now heavily damaged.
Fire marshals planned to return to the scene Wednesday morning to find the cause of the fire.