A faulty electrical outlet ignited a Saturday night house fire that has displaced a Hall County family of four.

The fire spread to a couch, wall and ceiling by the time occupants of the house noticed it and alerted authorities, Fire Chief David Kimbrell said Sunday.

The firefighters found heavy flames by the time they arrived at 11 p.m. at the house in the 1500 block of Biscayne Place, east of Gainesville near Interstate 985.

The four family members were in the house at the time of the blaze but escaped without injuries, Kimbrell said.

In the end, the fire caused about $150,000 in damages.

The home is “pretty much totaled,” Kimbrell said.

The family “stayed with neighbors the remainder of (Saturday) night and (American) Red Cross was going to help them (Sunday),” he said.

Kimbrell said that he “didn’t know the history behind that particular outlet, but so many times people have problems (with an outlet) and never do anything about it.”

He suggests just the opposite.

“It may be the people have breakers and fuses and ... those will start tripping and instead of finding the cause, people will just put in a larger breaker or larger fuse,” Kimbrell said.

“The first second you notice a problem with an outlet, you need to have it checked.”