Whitewater family saves own home from fire

A Whitewater family was able to put out a house fire before it could do significant damage Tuesday night thanks to a working smoke detector, an officer with the Whitewater Fire Protection District said today.

The family was upstairs in their home just off County Road 382 when a smoke alarm went off on the bottom floor around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Roger English, safety officer with the district. A towel had caught fire after sustained contact with an uncovered bulb on a nightlight.

The alarm caught the family's attention, and they used a fire extinguisher to put out the flame before firefighters arrived. Firefighters checked for any fire in the wall next to the nightlight and found none, English said.

The damage to the home was contained to the room where the fire broke out, English said.