Smoke detectors helped save a Merrill area family when their house caught fire.
Early Saturday morning, the Town of Pine River Fire Department was called to a fire at W-2389 Town Line Road, Merrill.
Heavy flames were coming from the front and roof of the single-story structure when firefighters arrived.
The bulk of the fire was quickly knocked down, but firefighters continued to find and extinguish hot spots through the morning hours.
The fire started in a bedroom normally used for a three-month-old child, but the parents had brought their daughter into their bedroom on the other side of the house that night.
Smoke detectors alerted the family to the fire, and the Pine River Fire Department believes it could have been a tragic event without them.
A family pet that had been thought lost walked up to a firefighter investigating the fire Saturday afternoon.
The house is considered a total loss, but was insured.
Several other departments helped at the scene of the fire.
