Knoxville Fire Department officials said a working smoke detector gave a family the time they needed to get out of a fire that engulfed their duplex this evening.
Capt. D.J. Corcoran, spokesman with the fire department, said firefighters were called to 5009 Clover Road at 7:35 p.m. on a house fire and had it controlled by 7:47 p.m. While the cause was undetermined, arson investigators were on site as a matter of protocol.
Robert Tiller said he and his wife, Jessica, were in the house with their young children and her mother when the fire started.
"We were watching the USC game and the smoke detector went off. I walked out back and saw smoke and flames," he said.
Tiller said he and his wife got everyone out of the house and Corcoran said Tiller also got a family in a downstairs apartment out of the structure.
"This is a circumstance where the smoke detector did exactly what it was supposed to do," he said.
Copyright 2012 - The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
