HENRICO, Va. – An intrusion alarm – not a smoke detector – is being credited for alerting a family of five of a house fire that took their home.
The fire at the two-story house started in the garage just after 1:30 a.m. on May 18. Heavy flames were so huge that they knocked down a door, setting off the security alarm, NBC 12 reports.
Shortly after, the smoke alarm went off.
McKenzie acted quickly to get his wife and three children out of the house. No one was injured during the fire.
It took an hour for firefighters to get the blaze under control.
The fire completely damaged the home, as well as melted the McKenzies’ vehicles.
Investigators are blaming the fire on an electrical overload.
Although there was a working smoke detector inside the home, there was not one in the garage – where the fire started.
