A heat lamp in a backyard chicken coop reportedly sparked a fire early Thursday that damaged a house in Santa Maria, but the family, their cats and the fowl escaped. 

Members of the Santa Maria Fire Department responded at approximately 3:30 a.m. Thursday to the 1000 block of South Concepcion Avenue for a residential fire.

Fire Marshal Jim Austin said it appeared to have started outside the residence because of a heat lamp in a chicken coop at the rear wall of the structure.

The fire entered the attic through a roof vent, he said, adding that it left the residence with a fair amount of damage.

A couple and their children were displaced because of the fire as efforts to extinguish the blaze made the home uninhabitable. 

The family’s cats reportedly escaped safely.

Amazingly, the chickens also avoided becoming casualties. 

“Somehow, it burned enough they could get out somewhat safely,” Austin said, adding that firefighters had to wrangle the chickens so they could be corralled.

The incident marked the second significant structure fire in Santa Maria this week.

On Tuesday night, firefighters battled a two-alarm fire that damaged a vacant warehouse near the intersection of South Blosser Road and Knudson Way.