As flames were torching a living room late Tuesday night at a home in Windham, New Hampshire, a mom and three kids were fast asleep upstairs.
The dad, who was at work, started getting motion detector alerts on his cell phone from his Blink camera that was set up just a few feet away from the fire.
STAY IN THE KNOW
 |
Watch NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
 |
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. |
“I keep hearing this notification of sound,” said James, who didn’t want his last name used. “Boop, boop, boop.”
James says at first he didn’t think much of the alerts.
Get top local stories in Boston delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Boston's News Headlines newsletter.
“The first thought that came to my mind was maybe my daughter went downstairs for the dog,” he said. “I’ll just ignore it, but it kept going on.”
But something didn’t seem right.
“I look at the camera and what did I see...fire,” he said.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
Frantically, he called his wife but she didn’t answer. Then he called 911.
First responders were there quickly, alerting the family inside to wake up. Everyone go out safely.
“I just thank God,” James said.
Investigators were back at the Windham home Wednesday morning trying to figure out how the blaze started. They do know the smoke alarms were not working.
The family just moved into the home right after Thanksgiving. They thought the smoke detectors were functioning properly.
“This had bad written all over it,” said Windham Fire Chief Thomas McPherson. “And it was a good outcome.”
“In this case it’s not the firefighters that were the heroes,” McPherson added. “It was the husband. Because with his system that he put in that house, who would have thought that a security system would have alerted them on a fire.”
James is grateful he installed multiple cameras.
“It just saved my family’s life,” he said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation but firefighters think it may have started near the thermostat.
