Mount Erie firefighters worked against icy roads and a malfunctioning pager system early Sunday morning when a house was fully engulfed in flames.

Mount Erie Fire Department Chief Mike Noyes said the house was fully engulfed by the time firefighters reached the home on Highway 20, about a half mile south of Lake Campbell on Fidalgo Island.

The couple living there left the house unharmed, and firefighters saved two vehicles and a cat. Two dogs died in the fire.

Fire Department spokesman Vince Streano said the fire started in the chimney, where built up particulate matter ignited and burned the attic. The fire overtook the attic before smoke detectors in the house went off. Firefighters were alerted just after midnight on Sunday morning.

Noyes and other volunteer firefighters were notified of the blaze through a radio system set up earlier in the day because a county-wide paging system was not functioning.

Firefighters from Anacortes and La Conner worked against icy roads to transport water from the nearest fire hydrant. Noyes said they eventually decided to let the fire burn itself out. He said the decision was to pull the trucks off the road and prevent an accident because the house was virtually destroyed.

Noyes said the house could not have been saved even without the hindrance of a distant fire hydrant and difficulties with the paging system.

He warned residents to make sure their smoke alarms are working during icy weather. He said the Fidalgo Island couple survived because their alarm woke them.

“Had the smoke detector not gone off, they would not have made it out,” Noyes said.

The couple is receiving assistance from the Red Cross.

• Aaron Burkhalter can be reached at 360-416-2141 or .