Sweetwater Family Fortunate to Escape Burning Home
By: Morgan Bond
Updated: January 30, 2012
Fire crews say a Sweetwater family is lucky to be alive after their home
caught fire late last week. They lost everything they own, and had
little warning, because there were no smoke detectors in the house.
It all started with a very short 911 phone call.
"The Sweetwater police got a frantic call that said, 'My house is on fire, oh man my kids,' then she hung up," said Grant Madden, Chief of the Sweetwater Fire Department.
When fire crews arrived, they found the house fully engulfed in smoke, with no flames showing.
"It took us a while to figure out where the smoke was coming from," Madden said.
The fire started around 10:30 p.m. Friday. Madden says the home owner told him the fire started in the dryer. A 5-year-old in the house noticed the smell of smoke in the air and said something to their mother.
"She started investigating and noticed the smoke. When she opened the dryer, flames started shooting out of the dryer," Madden said.
Three people were home at the time of the fire. Madden says the family is lucky they made it out unharmed.
"There was a complete absence of smoke detectors in their house. If they had gone to bed, this could have turned out very different," Madden said.
It all started with a very short 911 phone call.
"The Sweetwater police got a frantic call that said, 'My house is on fire, oh man my kids,' then she hung up," said Grant Madden, Chief of the Sweetwater Fire Department.
When fire crews arrived, they found the house fully engulfed in smoke, with no flames showing.
"It took us a while to figure out where the smoke was coming from," Madden said.
The fire started around 10:30 p.m. Friday. Madden says the home owner told him the fire started in the dryer. A 5-year-old in the house noticed the smell of smoke in the air and said something to their mother.
"She started investigating and noticed the smoke. When she opened the dryer, flames started shooting out of the dryer," Madden said.
Three people were home at the time of the fire. Madden says the family is lucky they made it out unharmed.
"There was a complete absence of smoke detectors in their house. If they had gone to bed, this could have turned out very different," Madden said.
