A husband and wife were able to escape a massive fire in their Joppa home early Saturday morning.
Fire officials were called to the 400 block of Timber Lane for a report of a fire just before 7 a.m. It took 45 firefighters around an hour to control the flames.
Investigators say the couple was in bed and woke up to the sound of smoke alarms. They quickly found a fire in the basement and tried to extinguish it with a portable fire extinguisher and all-purpose baking four. The fire grew beyond their control and they ran out of the house.
Two of their cats died in the fire; their home and everything inside is considered a complete loss by investigators.
Friends and the Red Cross are helping the family. Deputy State Fire Marshals say that the families smoke alarms saved their lives.
