LAKE CITY -- A doorbell may have saved the life of a Lake City teen on Sunday morning.
Shortly before 7 a.m., firefighters were dispatched to a house on the 500 block of South Houghton Street, where a teenager had reported his house was on fire.
“He heard the doorbell ring he told us…then he came out the front door,” a neighbor said.
Neighbors said the teen was awoken by the sound of the doorbell. Firefighters think the doorbell sounded as a result of an electrical fire.
“I guess the doorbell must have shorted out from the electrical fire or from fire melting the electrical lines…and it shorted out and the doorbell rang…so we are thinking that is what woke him up,” Fire Chief Bill Morey said.
The garage portion of the house is a total loss, and fire crews said the rest of the home suffered severe smoke and water damage. However, authorities say the occupant of the home was lucky enough to be saved by the bell.
“He is pretty fortunate because the way the wind was blowing that morning…right out of the north at about 20-30 miles per hour gusts... it was pushing the fire right into the house,” Morey said.
Nobody was injured fighting the fire.
The Lake Missauke Area Fire Department was assisted by the Lake City Fire Department.
