A laundry room fire caused serious damage to a house in Verga Tuesday afternoon, leaving a family of four temporarily homeless.

Firefighters were called out to a rancher on Spiegle Avenue just before 3 p.m. and made quick work of the fire, knocking down the bulk of it within just a few minutes.

Verga Fire Company Chief Jeff Bilger said the fire was contained to the laundry room, but it affected the entire home.

“There was a lot of heat and smoke damage throughout the house,” he said, adding the exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Neighbors watched through the pouring rain as firefighters brought out a charred, partially melted laundry basket and loads of damaged clothes from a side entrance.

Soot blackened the gutter just above that doorway, and a charred door lay in the driveway.

Distraught family members talked with firefighters and snapped pictures of the damage with their cell phones, as firefighters investigated inside the rear of the home under the glow of work lights.

The Gloucester County chapter of the Red Cross was called in for food, clothing and housing assistance for an adult and three children who were put out of the home by the blaze.

Bilger said the damage to the home should be repairable.

In addition to Verga, firefighters from Colonial Manor, Thorofare and Woodbury were on scene, along with West Deptford police and EMTs from the county EMS.