Smoke Detector Helps Four Survive South Hill House Fire

Fire officials credited a smoke detector with saving the lives of four people who were chased from a burning South Hill home early Saturday morning.

Firefighters arrived at 313 W. 16th Avenue and found smoke and flames pouring from the two-story house.

Flames shot up the side of the house and lashed at the eves of its roof. They danced through the attic and inside the walls, said Battalion Chief Joe Stapleton.

A smoke detector on the first floor awoke the family sleeping inside about 2:40 a.m., Stapleton said. The occupants raced from the house and called firefighters from a cellular phone.

No one was injured.

“A working smoke detector saved the lives of those four people,” Stapleton said.

Heat from the ventilation pipe leading away from a pellet stove set the siding of the house on fire, Stapleton said.

Jessie Wolff II, who owns the house, told firefighters he is insured. , DataTimes