Fire Destroys Firefighter’s Home

Alabama Fire A Gulf Shores Firefighter's home was destroyed in a fire--but smoke detectors saved his families life.

by Bill Riales

Published: Fri, October 30, 2009 - 10:45 am CST

FOLEY, Alabama - As a firefighter with Gulf Shores Fire Rescue, Cory Parker knows the value of having smoke detectors in your home. His home was destroyed Wednesday night but Parker, his wife and three sons are alive thanks to the devices.
Parker says he doesn't remember much after turning in shortly after 10 o'clock. "I woke up and my fire alarm was going off," he says.

He says even with the shrieking of the alarm, he wasn't sure there was even a fire. But he knew to get his wife and three sons out of the house anyway, and he did.

"Meantime we got them out and I went back in to try to find out what was going on, and when I opened up my bedroom that's where it was at," said Parker.

It was a fast moving fire. His wife ran next door and a neighbor called 911. Foley Firefighters responded quickly to the home on County Road 20. Parker says they fought it for a good while and finally gained control, but not before the fire consumed virtually everything the family owns. It's been declared a total loss.

Fire investigators do not yet know what caused this fire. But they do know one thing, that's what saved this family's life.

"Definitely what saved this family's life is having operating, functional smoke detectors in the house," says friend and fellow firefighter Brian McMahan. "Had they not had that it would have been a totally different story."

Even for a trained firefighter, the destructive force of a quickly growing fire can't be underestimated. Parker said he did what he could to save his property until the Foley units arrived, using a fire extinguisher and a garden hose. But he was no match. And even though this family has insurance that will help replace a good bit of what they lost, there are immediate things we may take for granted that an event like this takes away.

Says McMahan, "What's on your plate right now is where are my kids going to stay tonight, what are we going to do about school uniforms."

Of his children, Parker says, "The two youngest are taking it okay, they don't really know, the oldest is taking it pretty hard." And his wife is also trying to deal with it all. But they are alive, thanks to a simple inexpensive device that operates on a 9 volt battery. These firefighters urge you to learn from this tragedy, and make sure to check your smoke detectors--and change the batteries as you turn your clock back this weekend.

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