The owner of the Maplewood house in the 7600 block of Flora Avenue with a fire on Jan. 1, Sarah Lamb, contacted 40 South News to say she was treated later for smoke inhalation. Her husband was taken to the emergency room for smoke inhalation and an asthma attack. Their son didn’t inhale smoke and was cleared by E.R staff. She said they’re all better now.
Lamb said two men pounding on their door alerted them to the fire. She described what she and her family were doing before that.
“We were awake in the back room watching TV and playing on the computer. The light by our couch started to dim out and got bright. After that we heard a loud pop that came from the front of the house. It was about five minutes later when I started to smell hot wiring and we searched the attic and utility room. My husband went around the corner of the dining room to notice the front part of our house didn’t have power. He went back to the utility room and checked the breaker box to find a breaker tripped. I started through the kitchen and noticed a smoke haze and then heard the guys kicking and banging on the door yelling get out your house is on fire. I yelled for my husband and we grabbed our son and the extinguishers and bailed out of the front door seeing the side of the house by the front porch on fire.”
She said once they got out they attacked the fire with the extinguishers. They had functioning smoke detectors in the living room, which sounded once the smoke reached that room.
The fire department said it started from an electrical short outside the house. Damage was contained to the front of the house and the front living room. Lamb said smoke smell remains throughout the house.
Jane, we have functioning smoke detectors in all rooms of the house. It was just not one smoke detector in the living room ask the article stated. The smoke alarms malfunctioned and did not sound until we were already evacuated out of the house and more smoke filled the living room. They are electric wired with battery backup, the batteries were brand new in all the units as we replace them every 3 months.
Glad to hear they got out okay and that the damage to their home was somewhat minimal! Call me paranoid, but we have at least five smoke detectors in our home. When I burn something in the oven, it’s obnoxious when they all go off, but I figure in an event like what happened to this family, it will help us get out quickly.