
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 12, 1990                   TAG: 9005120150
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FIRE OFFICIAL: DETECTOR SAVED FAMILY

A smoke detector that continued to work after it was partially melted in a house fire was credited this week for saving the lives of a Roanoke County family.

Kenneth Sharp, a county fire marshall, said Benjamin and Bonnie Campbell and their two children were awakened about 6:30 a.m. Thursday by smoke detectors - just in time for them to flee their burning house.

By the time county firefighters arrived at the fire on Absolom Smith Road in the Mason Cove area, it was too late to save the house.

The smoke detector in the master bedroom continued to beep as firefighters battled the fire. And even after the fire was out, the partially melted detector still was working.

"It's working right now," Sharp said Friday. "I had to disconnect the battery to make it stop. It's a very brave smoke detector."

Sharp said the fire apparently started with an electrical short in the home's attic.

Authorities estimated the fired caused about $100,000 in damage to the home, a total loss.

But Sharp said the fire is an example of how smoke detectors can prevent a much more serious loss - the loss of life.

by CNB