A family’s diligence practicing fire drills and working smoke detectors helped a Vineyard Haven family escape a fire on Irene’s Way in the early morning hours Thursday.

Firefighters got the first call at 1:25 a.m. and responded with all the department’s equipment, along with police and emergency medical services. The fire began in the engine compartment of a vehicle parked near the house, spread to another vehicle, and then to the two-story home, according to Tisbury fire chief John Schilling.

“A very frightening way for a family to wake up in the middle of the night,” Chief Schilling said. He said James and Shannon Moore escaped unharmed with their children. “They practice fire drills, and that’s why the were able to get out of the home quickly. They all got out together.”

Chief Schilling said both the vehicles were total losses, but the flames were contained to the front corner of the structure, with water and smoke damage to the inside of the home.

Wind gusts of up to 36 miles per hour made the job tough for firefighters.

“It was blowing in the right direction for the fire, the wrong direction for everybody else,” Chief Schilling said. “The wind was blowing toward the house, not away from it.”

He said firefighters left the scene at 4:30 a.m., after checking to make sure the fire had not spread through interior walls, and setting up fans to clear the house of toxic gases from the fire.