The family escaped with no injuries, but the home in La Plata was destroyed.
It was a major house fire that jolted some residents out of bed on Mallard Lane. For others it was a loud knock at the door. The home of the new family in the neighborhood was on fire.
Around 7:15 a.m. the Charles County Volunteer Fire Department got a call about the house fire in La Plata. Fifty-four firefighters fought the blaze for an hour as it quickly consumed the home.
Linda Watson, a neighbor, rushed out of her home just as the fire spread from the kitchen to the rest of the house. That's when she thought the worst
"My daughter said that someone was alerting us that the house next door to us was on fire," Watson says. "I caught myself alerting the crews that there were people inside of the house but I didn't know if they were there or not."
The husband, wife, and two children weren't inside. The husband was too upset to talk on camera but tells ABC7 that he was brewing coffee before going to work and doesn't know if that may have started the fire. The cause is under investigation.
"I'm still kind of jittery myself knowing how close it was," Watson says. "I'm glad that no one was in the house."