Windyville Home Saved From Fire, Smoke Detectors Credited

Firefighters rip open an exterior wall to find the source of heavy smoke at a Windyville house fire.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Properly working smoke detectors were credited for saving the home of Virginia Kay Duvall in Windyville early this morning as firefighters responded to the residence around 3AM. 

The home was filled with heavy smoke that came from the crawl space, which set of the smoke detectors. Mrs. Duvall said she was quickly awakened, called 911, and firefighters were able to respond quickly and locate the source.

The house had a large crawl space on one end, with over five feet of headroom that Duvall used for storage. Insulation and the stored items smoldered, as the intense heat crept up the exterior wall, melting the siding from the home. Firefighters were forced to cut through the home's exterior to gain access to the heat source.

Firefighters search for the heat source of heavy smoke.

Firefighters on scene said it appeared that the fire started in the hvac unit but that could not be confirmed. One fireman discussed the importance of properly working smoke detectors and he estimated that the home would have been fully involved in just a few minutes.

Mrs. Duvall said she was glad to have the working smoke detectors.

"It's the only thing that saved us," she said.

Responding to the incident were the Bear Creek, Brownsville, and Lincoln Fire Departments. Individual members from other departments were also on scene. 

The house suffered smoke, water, and heat damage, but was saved. No injuries were reported.

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