A FAMILY of eight has been left devastated after their Leeton home was completely destroyed by fire on Wednesday night.
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Fire and Rescue crew from Leeton, as well as Narrandera and Griffith raced to the scene of the fire just before 7pm on June 23, finding the Beech Street property fully ablaze on arrival.
Fire and Rescue Duty Commander Matt Hunter said a working fire alarm in the home had saved the lives of the eight people inside who were able to evacuate unharmed.
"It was a working smoke alarm that alerted them to the fire," Duty Commander Hunter said.
"The single-level family home was totally involved in fire when crews arrived.
"They were able to establish early on that a family of eight had self-evacuated. Crews got to work and, through great efforts, were able to stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring buildings.
"The fire was quite fierce and intense. It was generating a lot of smoke through the neighbourhood."
It took crews around 40 minutes to bring the blaze under control, with the fire fully extinguished about one hour later.
Police and paramedics were also on scene, but there were no reported injuries.
Investigations into how the fire started are ongoing.
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"We don't believe it was deliberately lit," Duty Commander Hunter said.
Mayor Paul Maytom on Thursday morning was meeting with the affected family to see how the community could help after they lost everything in the fire.
Duty Commander Hunter reminded residents during the winter months to take precautions when it came to heating and cooking to ensure a fire doesn't start in their home.
"We always say every year as part of our winter campaign when drying clothes to keep them a metre from your heater," he said.
"We'd also like to remind people to check their smoke alarms are in good working order as that is what has saved the lives of this family."
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