NEWS RELEASE
August 22, 2001
Release: Immediately
Contact: Storm Smith, (503) 612-4713

(Smoke Alarm Saves Tualatin Man)

Dan Lundy is a believer in smoke alarms.

"Working smoke alarms save lives," he read on the side of Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue Engine 34, "That's the truth!" Lundy was watching Engine 34's crew along with five other companies fight the fire in the garage of his Tualatin home Tuesday morning. Lundy said he was sick and stayed home from work. The smoke alarm woke him from a sound sleep.

"I went into the kitchen and found white smoke in the house and heard noises coming from the garage," Lundy said. "I knew not to open the door to the garage. I looked out the front window and saw flames had already burned through the side of the garage." Lundy escaped through a bedroom window. "Conditions inside were deteriorating rapidly," Lundy added.

Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue units arrived to the 8:30 a.m. fire on Alsea Drive to find flames venting through the garage roof. Twenty firefighters spent about 20 minutes extinguishing flames that consumed the garage, plus a Jeep and an ATV parked inside. The home's interior suffered extensive smoke damage. Preliminary damage estimate is $60,000. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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