A woman has been arrested and charged over an alleged arson attack that destroyed a family’s home in Adelaide’s south.

Fire crews were called to reports of a fire in the backyard of a Glenalvon Drive home at about 5.20am, with the blaze spreading to the roof and garage of a house.

A mother and her four children were asleep inside when a neighbor told them to get out.

They managed to escape uninjured, but the blaze destroyed their home, with damage estimated at $300,000.

Investigators say the flames jumped to the house from a nearby brush fence that had allegedly been deliberately set alight.

A 50-year-old neighbor has been charged with arson.

Police are now investigating if she is responsible for five other suspicious fires in the street since Boxing Day.

“This person has been a person that police have been looking at in relation to some other fires up around that area,” Detective Inspector Trevor Lovegrove said.

Fire crews tackle the house fire at Flagstaff Hill this morning. Photo: Jeff Anderson

The damage to the house after this morning's fire. Photo: Llyod Thornton.