CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Panthers coach Ron Rivera has more to worry about this week than his team’s upcoming NFC playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks after an overnight fire at his home left his family displaced on Monday.

The Rivera family’s 7,000-square-foot, two-story Charlotte home sustained “significant” damage from an early morning blaze that spewed heavy smoke and fire from the attic two days after Carolina’s 27-16 playoff victory over Arizona.

No one was injured in the two-alarm blaze, which took about an hour to extinguish.

The Charlotte Fire Investigative Task Force determined the cause of the “accidental fire” to be a fireplace inside the home and estimated the damages at approximately $500,000.

“The big thing is we’re all right,” Rivera said. “This opportunity to work and continue to work is very reassuring. It could have been worse. It’s kind of like (the movie) `It’s A Wonderful Life,’ You see things through a different set of eyes now.”

Rivera and his wife, Stephanie, along with his two brothers and their wives were in the house sleeping at the time of the fire. All made it out safely along with two family pets.

Rivera suspected the fire might have started in a gas fireplace, located on the opposite side of the master bedroom wall where he and Stephanie were sleeping. He said they both awoke when they smelled smoke. He repeatedly stressed at his news conference the importance of having a home security system or smoke alarms, saying it probably helped save his family’s life.

Rivera said the master bedroom, family room and living room are “pretty close to being destroyed” and the insurance company estimates it will take six to eight months before they’ll be able to return to the home.