AUTHORITIES say a Colac family is lucky to be alive after a kitchen fire filled their house with smoke.

Colac Fire Brigade incident controller Mark Gunning said a male resident, who was getting ready for work, had left oil unattended on a stove about 2am yesterday.

Mr Gunning said the oil caught fire and spread into the roof causing and caused an estimated $50,000 worth of damage.

Mr Gunning said the couple and their two young children wouldn’t have survived if they had evacuated their Murray Street home any later than they did.

“They’ve heard the noise from the fire and the smoke detector went off just after – they got out of the house and called the fire brigade,” Mr Gunning said.

“It was a lucky escape, there’s no doubt about that – the smoke was down to floor level by the time we arrived,” he said.

“They wouldn’t have survived if they stayed in the house any longer than they did.”

Mr Gunning said the fire spread from the stove to roof of the house but firefighters in breathing apparatuses kept the blaze from spreading further and controlled it within 20 minutes.

He said the blaze caused minimal structural damage but the home’s interior pain, carpet and curtain would need “substantial cleaning” or replacing.

“The firefighters that got in there first did a good job and were able to confine the structural damage to the area above where it started,” Mr Gunning said.

“It was a lucky save for the family and it was good they were all safe,” he said.

“It’s a timely reminder to check smoke detectors and not to leave anything unattended on the stove.”

Mr Gunning said four Colac Fire Brigade units were at the scene, at the west end of Murray Street, for about two hours, while police also attended as a precaution.