Firefighters had to battle an early morning fire last Friday that left a local family homeless. Fire officials say that the family had to escape through a window with only the clothes on their backs.

Lieutenant Matt Adcock of the DeKalb County Fire Department reported that at 1:23 a.m. fire crews responded to a call of a structure fire at the home of Marty and Tamara Hensley at 2189 Corinth Church Road. The Belk, Short Mountain, Keltonburg, and Four Seasons fire stations responded to the scene, along with Tanker 1, DeKalb EMS and the DeKalb Sheriff’s Department.

Upon arrival authorities say the home was already fully engulfed in flames and could not be saved. According to Lt. Adcock, Marty and Tamara Hensley, and their teenage son Elijah, escaped through a window. The family had been asleep at the time of the blaze, but their son awoke and discovered the fire. The family first tried to escape through the front door of the home, but could not.

One of the family suffered a minor scrape and was treated at the scene by DeKalb EMS, but the rest of the family was without serious injuries. The family dogs perished in the blaze. The family also lost all their belongings to the blaze, except the clothes on their backs. The American Red Cross was on the scene to arrange help and shelter for the family.

The cause of the fire is undetermined.