KUNA -- Firefighters are crediting a smoke detector for getting a Kuna family out of their burning house after it caught fire early Monday morning.
The fire started just after 1:30 a.m. at 5655 South Linder Road.
Meridian Fire Battalion Chief Tyler Rountree said the occupants of the home were all asleep when the blaze began. But luckily, he said, the family's smoke detectors were in good working order and began to go off as smoke filled the house.
"The teenage children that sleep upstairs alerted the parents to the situation. This could be completely attributed to the smoke detectors that were in in the home," Rountree said. "That's what woke the teenage kids up, and they came downstairs to wake their parents up and fortunately were able to exit through the rear of the structure."
All five people had already made it safely outside by the time firefighters arrived. Crews from Kuna, Meridian, Eagle and Boise all responded to the fire.
Rountree said the lack of fire hydrants complicated the attempts to extinguish the fire. Firefighters ultimately used water trucked in with water tenders.
"There was heavy damage throughout the home - both floors," he said.
According to fire investigators, the fire started in the chimney of the home.
"When they went to bed, it was a little bit on the cool side and they had started a small fire in the fireplace to warm the house," Rountree said.
As fall arrives, Rountree said, residents all over the Treasure Valley should make sure their smoke detectors have fresh batteries and that their chimneys and furnaces are clean and ready to go for colder temperatures.