A house fire Monday in Long County displaced a family and killed two pets.

According to Ludowici/Long County Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Tyler Hall, fire units arrived at the Water Oak Lane home in the Cypress Creek subdivision around 4:30 p.m. and saw heavy smoke and flames coming from a bedroom. Hall said it took firefighters from Long County and prisoners from the Long State Prison 30 minutes to extinguish the flames. Damage to the home was contained to the bedroom in the front; the rest of the home sustained smoke damage.

The residents — Will Herdman, his wife and four children — were not home at the time of the fire, but two pet cats did not survive.

Hall said according to the state fire marshal, a receptacle that had a fish tank plugged into it likely is where the fire started. The room belonged to one of the children.

The Long County Public Auxiliary provided the family with $500 for expenses, and the Red Cross was called in to assist.