The shrill sound of a smoke alarm at 1 a.m. Tuesday morning helped prevent an Agnew family's home from going up in flames.

 

On the 200 block of Breeze Way, an older pellet stove caught fire. The family immediately called 9-1-1 and Clallam County Fire District 3 rolled out at 1:05 a.m. to put out the fire and air out the house.

 

No injuries were reported and damage was contained to the pellet stove. Occupants were able to remain in the home after smoke was removed using a fire department power fan and the family went back to bed within an hour — all due to a working smoke alarm.

 

Fire District 3 reports so far this year, 133 people have died in structure fires in the United States, with working smoke alarms serving as the No. 1 fire prevention tool.

 

Working alarms must have fresh batteries, be less than 10 years old and receive monthly tests.

Detectors that are more than 10 years old have a greater possibility of not functioning when needed. This applies to both battery-operated and hard-wired alarms.

 

Fire District 3 encourages people living in Clallam and Jefferson counties to test alarms and replace ones that have been in service for longer than 10 years. New alarms can be found in a variety of local stores and many brands have a built in 10-year battery, removing the need to change batteries once a year.

 

For more information, call Clallam County Fire District 3 at 683-4242.