FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WKRN) — According to Franklin fire officials, a man and a woman are lucky to be alive after a blaze broke out at their home overnight, forcing them to bail through a bedroom window about 14 feet above the ground.

The Franklin Fire Department said crews were dispatched to a house fire along Ewingville Drive shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday, April 29 following a 911 call from a neighbor.

When first responders arrived, they found the back of the house fully engulfed in flames, officials said. As a result, units stayed at the scene more than five hours in order to completely extinguish the fire.

According to Franklin Fire Investigator Brian Daugherty, the couple inside the home had woken up to the smoke alarms, opened their bedroom door, discovered heavy smoke and heat, closed the door, and jumped out the second-story window.

The couple reportedly refused treatment for the minor injuries they sustained during their escape.

Daugherty said the fire originated on the covered back porch, adding that it appears to have been caused by spontaneous combustion of oily rags, which doesn’t require a heat source.

“After using organic products such as linseed oil, to prevent fire, store solvent-wet rags in a tightly sealed metal container, or hang them outside to dry in a cool, shady location away from structures, and then discard them,” the Franklin Fire Department said in a statement. “Make sure they are not in a pile.”

Daugherty deemed the home a total loss, with an estimated $600,000 worth of damage.

However, having functional smoke alarms, sleeping with the bedroom door closed, and having quick and easy access to a secondary exit saved the couple’s lives, according to the fire investigator.

This is actually the second house fire in Franklin this month where the occupants had to escape through a window, Daugherty reported.

On April 2, a man jumped from a bedroom window when an early morning fire broke out at a home in the Royal Oaks subdivision.

“It’s important to make sure that all windows are operable so that they may be used for escape if needed,” Daugherty said.