A passerby spotted a fire at a house in Hughes and woke the family, including two small children, rescuing them before their roof collapsed on Monday morning.
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ACT Fire and Rescue spent an hour extinguishing the fire which engulfed the three-bedroom house on Lynch street.
"It is my belief there were four occupants in the house at the time and they were awoken by the passerby," ACT Fire and Rescue Commander Danny Brighenti said.
The fire took out the front part of the house, leaving the home extensively damaged.
Mr Brighenti said he was investigating the cause of the fire but "there was a fully functioning smoke detector, [but] they were woken by the passerby who raised the alarm by banging on the door".
Two adults and two children, who police said were aged aged four and two, then safely evacuated themselves from the house and no one was injured, according to emergency services.
A man neighbours identified as a resident of the house was in a distressed state on the scene at 9.20am, but he denied that he lived there.
Shortly after, he was allowed into the backyard by firefighters to rescue a large dog.
Firefighters received the call shortly before 7am, and three fire pumpers with the breathing apparatus support van and two fire Commanders attended.
No neighbouring structures were threatened and the fire crews had extinguished the fire by 8am.
