Working smoke alarms may have saved the lives of an Orillia family on Wednesday night.
At around 11:15 p.m. last night, the Orillia Fire Department was called to a house fire on James Street.
“When crews arrived, they could see smoke coming from the front door,” said Orillia Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris Ferry. “The occupants of the home were outside waiting for us.”
The family was awakened by their smoke alarms and were able to call 911 in time for firefighters to contain the fire to its source in the laundry room in the home’s basement.
“This is why everybody should be checking to make sure they have working smoke alarms,” Ferry said. “They gave advance notice to this family to get out before they couldn’t.”
Ferry believes the smoke alarms may have averted a tragic situation. He says without working smoke alarms, the blaze would have been “much worse.”
“Their bedrooms were on the second floor, but the fire was in the basement,” he explained. “When the interconnected smoke alarms all went off, the family woke up.”
As a result of early detection from the smoke alarms and the family's quick call to 911, damage was limited to around $5,000 and the home will be livable again.
“We ventilated the smoke out,” Ferry said. “We did air monitoring and advised the occupants to not stay there for the evening to ensure the air is clear for them to stay there.”
Ferry says the fire originated from a clothes dryer in the laundry room. There will be no further investigation and the family is insured, Ferry told OrilliaMatters.
“There were some belongings in the laundry room that they lost,” he said. “Nothing more than that.”
