Three adults escaped an early morning fire without injuries on Madison's west side today. The owner woke up and noticed smoke in the home. He was able to awaken his wife and son in time to escape. The home had no working smoke alarms and the occupants are lucky that they were able to exit without injury.

City of Madison firefighters were called to 2314 Teal Drive at 2:26 a.m. and the first units arrived within three minutes. Firefighters reported smoke coming from the home's eaves and fire coming out of the basement windows.

An attack crew entered the front door and had to back out. They reported that their knees were getting hot and that the floor was "soft". The fire burning in the basement had already weakened the floor structure. The crew then entered through a back door near the basement stairs and started knocking down the flames that were coming up the basement stairs. Due to the heavy fire in the basement, a large amount of water was used to cool down the flames enough to allow firefighters to enter the basement and completely extinguish the fire.

The fire caused approximately $100,000 damage to the building and contents.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Smoke alarms save lives. Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. When there is a fire, smoke spreads fast and you need smoke alarms to give you time to get out.

Make sure your home is safe for you and your family by following these safety tips:

• Install smoke alarms on every level of the home, in each bedroom, and outside each bedroom.
• Test your smoke alarms every month.
• Make an escape plan and have a fire drill to practice your plan.
• When the alarm sounds, get out and stay out.
• After you have escaped, call 9-1-1 from a safe place.
• Never go back inside the building for any reason.