By NANCY RUMP

OCEAN CITY - Two people escaped a home fire early Friday morning because their smoke detector woke them, according to the Ocean City Fire Department.

City fire officials said the fire started behind a fireplace on the first floor of a home on East Surf Road. The smoke detector alerted the home’s two occupants who were asleep upstairs.

Firefighters responded around 12:30 a.m. and saved the family dog, which was hiding under a bed upstairs. No one was hurt.

The home suffered water damage on the first floor. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.