A Plano family of five credits their smoke alarms for saving their lives early Monday morning.
Fire forced the three generations from the home on Vista Knoll Drive just before midnight.
Thien Tran said the fire started in the master bedroom and spread incredibly fast. Everyone had been sound asleep, from the 9-month-old baby to his parents and grandparents. They all managed to escape because of the sound of the smoke alarms.
“I heard them go off and said, ‘Let’s go!’” said Tran.
Tran rushed into the burning master bedroom where his inlaws had been sleeping. His mother-in-law Elizabeth Flewellen tried frantically to put out the flames, but lost that battle.
“I said, ‘No! Let’s go! Don’t risk it,’” Tran said. “I was scared.”
They made it out with their lives and the clothes they’d been wearing.
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“It was quick. Just no time but to get out. Not worth it,” Tran said.
After Flewellen’s firefighting efforts, crews rushed her to the hospital for some minor burns and smoke inhalation. She had to be put on oxygen, but is now doing OK.
Tran said he just recently changed the batteries in their smoke alarms.
“It’s amazing how quickly stuff can happen,” Tran said.
Crews ripped apart the ceiling in the charred master bedroom. The rest of the house has some smoke and water damage. The family is just thankful it wasn’t worse.
“It was bad,” Tran said. “We need to get fire extinguishers. This time we will. It was all good, thank goodness."
The family does have insurance and plans to fix the fire damage.
