HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLA - A woman escaped an early morning house fire and she credits her dog and two working smoke detectors for saving her life.
She called 911 before 3 a.m. Thursday. Her home is located off Palmdale Court in Hillsborough County. Her husband was working at the time of the fire and she was alone with the dog.
Virginia Griggs said she got out of the house in time because her dog woke her up. She said her dog was unusually restless at that time of the morning.
“She came downstairs and she came back upstairs and woke me up,” Griggs said.
Griggs said the smoke detectors went off immediately.
“The lights went out and the flame was coming out of the vent. So, between the smoke alarm -upstairs and downstairs- and her .....(it) woke me up and got us out the house,” Griggs said.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue continues to investigate the cause of the fire. It is unclear, at this time, where the fire started. Griggs said it is a reminder why smoke detectors are important. Despite the damage, Griggs said she is blessed and thankful.
“It’s just a blessing to have them -anything that can help save a life. Go for it,” Griggs said.
Hillsborough County Fire Rescue will install a smoke alarm in your home for free if you live in the county and you do not have working smoke alarms. They said they install nearly 2,000 alarms a year.
