Family of six escapes Vic house fire

Firefighters say a family of six escaped from a house fire in Melbourne's north in the early hours of Sunday morning.

A family of six have escaped their burning Melbourne home in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Firefighters say a man discovered the fire and managed to get his family safely out of the Preston home in the city's north.

The fire did more than $200,000 damage to the house, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade said.

An MFB statement said there may have been asbestos in the home, which it is thought had no working smoke alarm.