WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A family is safe after a house fire in West Allis Monday morning, June 29.

The fire department got the call of a house on fire near S. 74th Street and W. Washington Street.

By the time fire crews arrived, the family had evacuated to a neighbor's house. 

The fire had apparently started from the outside of the home, but the fire chief used the incident as a reminder of the importance of working smoke alarms.

"Stressing the importance of working smoke alarms in a home...in this case having working smoke alarms would have paid off. The neighbor had alerted them to the fire but had the neighbor not knocked on the door, the smoke alarms would have eventually notified them," said Fire Chief Mason Pooler.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.