GREENFIELD — John Moore and his family slept in their home as a fire started to rage in their garage late Monday night.
In the living space above the garage, Moore’s son, his son’s girlfriend and their baby daughter slept, oblivious to the inferno below.
Oblivious, that is, until smoke started making its way into the house’s living area and triggered a network of smoke alarms.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryEveryone, including the family dog cat, made it out before the flames overtook the home in the 800 block of Dorothy Drive in the Copeland Farms neighborhood. Moore and a fire official credit the smoke alarms, now among the charred house’s wreckage, with getting the family out alive.
“That pretty much saved our lives,” Moore said at the scene early Tuesday.
Moore said everyone met in the house’s living room after the smoke alarms awakened them. He opened the door to his garage, saw it was engulfed in flames and left with everyone, including the dog, out the house’s front door. He made a quick return to retrieve his cat, he added.
“Get everybody out,” he said as he thought about what was going through his mind. “That was pretty much it.”
Brian Lott, a division chief and fire marshal with the Greenfield Fire Territory, agreed the smoke alarms saved the family members’ lives.
“If they didn’t have smoke alarms in the house, we probably would’ve had four fatalities,” he said at the scene at about midday Tuesday.
Lott said Moore’s house, like most built after around 1985, are constructed with interconnected smoke alarms that all go off when one is triggered.
The property’s garage did not have smoke alarms, Lott said, adding the state residential building code doesn’t require them in garages.
“So that thing set there and got going, got burning — no indication,” he said of the fire in the garage. “…Once it broke through the garage and got into the living space — the smoke — then it set the smoke alarms off.”
Moore said he didn’t know what could have caused the fire. Lott said the fire remains under investigation.
James Roberts, chief of the Greenfield Fire Territory, said early Tuesday that the house was fully engulfed upon firefighters’ arrival, and flames were threatening houses on both sides. Those homes sustained some external damage.
“The first arriving engine was able to stop that before it extended into those homes,” Roberts said.
He added one vehicle was destroyed in Moore’s garage. Flames also spread to a vehicle in the driveway, whose horn blasted continuously while it was consumed.
Firefighters from Greenfield, Buck Creek and Sugar Creek attacked with water from multiple angles, including from a tower truck with an aerial apparatus, as the fire ripped through the property.
Alex Raymond, 17, lives with his family in the house directly to the east of Moore’s home. Raymond said he heard “two loud booms” around 11:45 p.m. and thought they may have come from a vehicle break-in. When he looked out a window, however, he didn’t notice anything strange. Shortly after that, he heard two more loud booms and looked outside once more.
“Their whole garage is engulfed in fire,” Raymond said.
Lott said one of the loud booms Raymond heard likely came from the explosion of a propane tank in the garage. The size of the tank was comparable to those used on grills, he continued. Other loud sounds could have been caused by paint cans, popping vehicle tires and the vehicle’s fuel tank exploding, Lott added.
Raymond said after he saw Moore’s garage on fire, he then went to wake up the rest of his family. He added when he went into one of his sisters’ rooms, he noticed the whole room was glowing orange from the flames outside.
Raymond said he was glad to see that the neighbors had escaped.
Lott said it took firefighters about an hour to knock down the blaze before tackling hot spots for about an hour and a half.
He said he left the scene around 5 a.m. and returned around 7 a.m. and that during that time, a restoration company worked to board up and secure the property.
Lott said he’s certain the fire started in the garage and that the investigation likely won’t begin in force until Wednesday or Thursday, adding the amount of water still inside posed safety concerns like bowing floor joists.
“We’re not going to get in to dig out the garage until some of the water evaporates off that second floor; it’s pretty heavy,” he said. “…Right now it’s like a rain shower in there.”
Lott said he and other firefighters were training at Avery Dennison Tuesday morning when some of them asked if they could stop by the house. Upon their arrival, they noticed a couple puffs of smoke and extinguished the small hot spots they rose from, he said.
Lott encouraged those without smoke alarms in their homes to get them. The Greenfield Fire Territory distributes and installs them for free, he continued, adding interested parties can call or leave a message for him at 317-477-4430.
Area residents took to social media Tuesday to help Moore and his family. Moore’s son, Dustin Moore, told the Daily Reporter in an email that they are in need of men’s 3XL shirts and jackets, 38/30 jeans, large shirts and jackets and 40/30 jeans.
Salon De’ Elegance, 108 N. State St., Greenfield, is accepting donations at the back of the salon, according to a post on its Facebook page. The post asks for women’s size 11 clothing and girl’s clothing sized 6 to 9 months along with toys and baby bedding.
A post on Hancock County Neighbors Helping Neighbors’ Facebook page asks for leads on donations, adding a friend will keep a close eye on the post and reach out to donors. The post asks for donations to replace necessities and girl’s clothing sized 6 to 9 months.
A GoFundMe for the family has been set up at gofundme.com/f/1riqnda69c. GoFundMe told the Daily Reporter in an email that donations will go toward helping the family get back on their feet.
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The Greenfield Fire Territory distributes and installs smoke alarms for free. Call or leave a message for Brian Lott, division chief and fire marshal, at 317-477-4430.
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