April 12—A working smoke detector is credited with saving a Seattle grandmother and her family during a home fire this morning in Wallingford.
At 3:39 a.m. the Fire Alarm Center received multiple 911 calls reporting fire at a home in the 5600 block of Kirkwood Place North. Engine 17 arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from a 2 –story home. All of the occupants of the home safely evacuated by the time the first engine arrived.
The grandmother woke up to the sound of a smoke detector. She ran upstairs to the second floor bedroom of her 21-year-old son and woke him up. She also woke up her three grandchildren who were sleeping in back bedroom of the home.
Firefighters knocked down the fire one minute after getting water on the fire. The fire was contained to just one bedroom. The second floor suffered heavy smoke damage.
A Seattle Fire Investigator is calling this an accidental fire caused by an overheated extension cord ignited nearby combustible materials in the 2nd floor bedroom. The cord was connected to a working portable space heater.
The damage estimate is $75,000.
AMR transported the 56-year old grandmother to Harborview with minor smoke inhalation.
No firefighters were injured.