ALPHARETTA, Ga. — An Alpharetta couple is encouraging others to consider garage alarms after a fire badly damaged their home.
There’s not much left of the house that belongs to Ted and Jennifer Fithian. Four people, including Jennifere’s 90-year-old mother, escaped the home unharmed during the fire. Now they’re left to ponder what could have been, especially if it had all happened at night.
“With our daughter sleeping upstairs right above it, any other time of day, it might be a different story,” Jennifer Fithian said.
It was a neighbor at the front door that alerted them to smoke pouring out of their garage. They were halfway out of the home before the smoke detectors inside began to sound.
“It never dawned on me the only room in the entire house that didn’t have any kind of detection system was the garage, and that’s probably the most likely place something’s going to start,” Ted Fithian said.
“Heat alarms work better in smoke alarms in garages,” the U.S. Fire Administration’s website said. “Purchase a heat alarm that is capable of interconnecting with your home’s smoke alarms. Have your hard-wired heat alarm installed by a qualified electrician.”
The U.S. Fire Administration recommends using one set to activate at temperatures between 175 and 250 degrees. The Fithians said their next home will have an alarm system that extends to the garage.
“We’ve got to see what’s in front of us and move forward,” Ted Fithian said.
They’re thanking the community that has rallied around them while focusing on their faith and signs of hope. The family says Jennifer’s 90-year-old mother left her wedding rings behind while fleeing the home. Firefighters found them in one of the badly damaged areas.
The rings are just fine.