A family in Washington County is happy to be alive today after losing their home to a fire earlier this morning.

It was a good ending to a bad situation this morning in Wausau. A father, mother and two young children under the age of five were all inside this house when a fire started. The mother, Chasity Dybdal, said she smelled smoke coming from the bedroom and her son, who has asthma, couldn't breathe, so she decided to get everyone out of the house and call 911.

Almost as soon as an officer arrived, the house went up in flames. Firefighters were on scene immediately. Luckily Dybdal had used good judgment to get everyone out of the house. She managed to grab some pictures, but the family's house is a loss. She's just happy her family is safe.

Chasity said, "I didn't realize it could happen so quickly just from smelling the smoke to when the fire started. I just thank God that I had smelled it and knew something was wrong and to go ahead and call 911 one time. I mean, I just knew something was wrong, and I'm just glad that we're okay."

The Red Cross disaster action team volunteers were on the scene helping the family. Members from the family's church were also on scene gather things that could be salvaged.

Dybdal says they plan on staying with family and friends until they can figure out what they'll do next.