The Windham fire chief is calling a local homeowner a hero for what he did after a fire broke out in his living room. The fire broke out inside a wall around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday while his family was asleep and he was at work. “I open the camera and what do I see, fire in the living room,” the homeowner told WMUR. “So I called my wife, and she’s sleeping. She’s not answering the phone. I call and call and she’s not answering so I say, ‘OK, I call 911.”Police arrived at the home, woke up the man’s wife, and she and their three children and dog got out safely. Fire crews arrived moments later as the first floor filled with smoke. The smoke alarms did not activate.“The homeowner just bought this house about a month ago, so this was a tough way to find out whether or not your smoke detectors work,” said Chief Thomas McPherson Jr., of the Windham Fire Department. The homeowner said he loves gadgets, and in this case, it’s a gadget that may have saved his family’s lives.“You’re talking a matter of several minutes before that fire would’ve grown substantially,” McPherson said. Instead, crews were able to contain the damage to the wall. “Had those cameras not detected that fire, had the homeowner not been alerted by his phone, this could’ve ended tragically,” McPherson said. “I know we have an angel watching over us because what if I decided to ignore my phone? Or what if my phone was on silent?” the homeowner said.The chief said this story is a reminder for all Granite Staters to make sure smoke detectors work. “In this case, the stars were aligned for this man,” McPherson said.
The Windham fire chief is calling a local homeowner a hero for what he did after a fire broke out in his living room.
The fire broke out inside a wall around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday while his family was asleep and he was at work.
Advertisement
“I open the camera and what do I see, fire in the living room,” the homeowner told WMUR. “So I called my wife, and she’s sleeping. She’s not answering the phone. I call and call and she’s not answering so I say, ‘OK, I call 911.”
Police arrived at the home, woke up the man’s wife, and she and their three children and dog got out safely.
Fire crews arrived moments later as the first floor filled with smoke. The smoke alarms did not activate.
“The homeowner just bought this house about a month ago, so this was a tough way to find out whether or not your smoke detectors work,” said Chief Thomas McPherson Jr., of the Windham Fire Department.
The homeowner said he loves gadgets, and in this case, it’s a gadget that may have saved his family’s lives.
“You’re talking a matter of several minutes before that fire would’ve grown substantially,” McPherson said.
Instead, crews were able to contain the damage to the wall.
“Had those cameras not detected that fire, had the homeowner not been alerted by his phone, this could’ve ended tragically,” McPherson said.
“I know we have an angel watching over us because what if I decided to ignore my phone? Or what if my phone was on silent?” the homeowner said.
The chief said this story is a reminder for all Granite Staters to make sure smoke detectors work.
“In this case, the stars were aligned for this man,” McPherson said.