It took several hours for fire crews to knock down a house fire in the southeast Calgary community of Mahogany, and a family of six is now homeless as a result.

At around 4 a.m., fire crews were called to respond to a fire at a home in the 200 block of Mahogany View S.E.

Smoke was seen billowing from the roof of a two-storey home as crews worked to vent the fire, calling a second alarm to deal with the blaze.

Eight nearby homes were evacuated in the interest of public safety.

All of the residents in the affected home, two parents and their four children, were all able to get out of the home without injury. A house cat is as yet unaccounted for.

The fire was brought under control as of 7 a.m. and, fortunately, no one was injured.

Fire officials say they found a significant amount of fire in the basement when they arrived at the scene, but aren't sure where the blaze began.

"We did launch an interior attack on this fire and knocked down a large body of fire on the main floor," said Battalion Chief Allan Ball. "Crews did recognize while in there that there was also fire in the basement and we had it burn through on the main floor. We subsequently pulled our crews outside as there was no more risk to life."

Ball says there is still active fire at the scene and they are opening up some windows on the second floor of the home to vent the smoke and heat.

He says the home did have working smoke alarms, which are being credited with alerting the family to the fire. "Our crews did report they were active at the time they entered the home."

The homes on either side of where the fire started also suffered minor damage.

Rupa Iyer, a neighbour of the affected home, says the victims were knocking on their door shortly before 4 a.m.

"They said there was a lot of smoke and 'our house is on fire', so we got the kids settled in and by that time the crew was already here. They asked us to evacuate as well, as the smoke was coming in."

Iyer says crews have been great. "They got us a lot of help, but at this point I am a little worried about the flames."

She says the residents in the affected home moved in about a year ago.

The fire investigator is at the scene, trying to determine the cause of the blaze. Crew is also still at the scene, monitoring any hot spots.

Mahogany Boulevard was closed between Mahogany Terrace and Mahogany Gate S.E. to bypass the scene while crews worked.