County Fire Department Installed Smoke Alarms Do Their Job for Dowelltown Woman

Smoke alarms, recently installed by the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department in the home of a Dowelltown woman, may have helped save the residence this morning (Monday).
County Fire Chief Donny Green told WJLE that firefighters were called to the home of Donna Willoughby on West Main Street in Dowelltown. It’s a rent home belonging to Jenelle Pugh.
According to Chief Green, Willoughby was cooking when a grease fire ignited from a skillet on the stove. Willoughby got out of the residence unharmed and thanks to county firefighters, the home received only minor fire and smoke damage. “We were called to West Main Street in Dowelltown this morning to a structure fire. When we got there and upon speaking with the occupant (Willoughby), she advised us that she had been in the kitchen cooking some breakfast and apparently had left the stove eye on and it had caught fire in her kitchen. She safely evacuated out of the house. At the time of her discovering the fire, she (Willoughby) was in another room when the smoke alarms activated in the home and alerted her. When she opened the door into the kitchen, she noticed that the back wall was on fire behind the stove and the curtains were on fire. She (Willoughby) evacuated the house and called 911,” said Chief Green.
This is a prime example of how working smoke alarms can help save property and lives, said Chief Green. “This is a success story we’re proud of. We’re glad that she got alerted in time and got out with no injuries or smoke inhalation. The alarms that alerted her (Willoughby) this morning, were those we (county fire department) put in recently under our “Get Alarmed Tennessee Smoke Alarm Program” where we’re putting in free smoke alarms for people who need them in their house. It probably resulted in us being able to get there and save her home with very minimal damage to her kitchen.,” said Chief Green.
Members of the Liberty Station, Main Station, and the Temperance Hall Station of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded along with DeKalb EMS and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department.