A Laurel Bay area woman woke up to find her home filling with smoke, but couldn’t find the fire

A house in the Laurel Bay area filled with smoke while the resident was sleeping early Sunday morning. Her smoke detectors likely saved her life.

Some of the wiring to the Capehart Circle home’s HVAC system melted sparking a small fire and creating smoke around 7:30 a.m., according to a Burton Fire District news release. The woman’s smoke detector went off, waking her up and letting her know there was a problem. She was able to get outside and call 911, seeing that her home was filling up with a haze of smoke but unable to find any fire.

“There was an electrical malfunction, the breaker turned off the power before a large fire started, and the smoke detector woke up the resident and got her outside before she became ill or incapacitated,” Lt. Alex Murray said. “This is why safety and fire codes are important.”

Firefighters found soot around HVAC connection outside the home and checked the walls and floor with a thermal imaging camera to find no further fire or heat, according to the release. Power for the HVAC unit was left off and firefighters helped to get the smoke out of the house.

This story was originally published October 15, 2017 at 2:06 PM with the headline "A Laurel Bay area woman woke up to find her home filling with smoke, but couldn’t find the fire."