A house fire in the village of Beatty, Sask., sent several people to hospital early Christmas Eve morning.

Melfort firefighters responded to the call at 5:15 a.m. and discovered the 2-storey, single family home ablaze.

All occupants of the home were able to get out by themselves.

It took crews several hours and 23,000 litres of water, shuttled from nearby Melfort, to control the fire.

The family, which spoke to CBC via Facebook Messenger, is in Saskatoon to spend Christmas with relatives.

Melfort's Canalta hotel is accepting donations on family members' behalf, since the contents of their home were also destroyed in the fire.

The house itself is deemed a total loss. According to Melfort Fire and Rescue, the fire was accidental.