Firefighters credit free alarm program with warning

Columbus firefighters are crediting a free smoke alarm program with saving a homeowner and house Friday morning on Hutchens Avenue.

Capt. Mike Wilson with the fire department says that rescue workers were called to the home at 10:56 a.m. after a smoke alerm alerted the home owner to a fire in the kitchen. Firefighters discovered burnt food in the oven, which the homeowner said must have been left by her grandson when he was making lunch before going to work.

Wilson said that the fire department and Red Cross canvassed the neighborhood last year, giving out smoke alarms. The home was one of more than 100 homes that received the news smoke alarms during that campaign.

Wilson said the home received about $800 in damage, mostly to the stove which was destroyed.