Smoke alarm saves lives of father, sons
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Troy Hett and his two young sons, Tristen, 7, and Jace, 5, were asleep Sept. 8 upstairs in their farm home at 280th and Mustang when a smoke alarm sounded.
Hett jumped out of bed and looked into the hallway. When he saw it filled with smoke, he was alarmed. He pulled on a pair of sweat pants, ran to his sons' room, and led them through the smoke to an east window.
As flames were shooting out the bathroom window, he climbed onto the porch roof, then jumped to the ground and got a ladder. After helping the two terrified little boys to the ground, they walked one-half mile to a neighbor's farm for help.
(Hett said his cell phone was on his bed stand, but he didn't think to pick it up.)
The coarse gravel tore at their bare feet. A frightened Jace was crying and had to be carried all the way.
Fire departments from Tampa, Hillsboro, Durham, Lincolnville, and Lost Springs responded to the 11:20 p.m. call from the dispatcher.
They battled the blaze for several hours before extinguishing it.
The fire was contained to the ground floor, destroying the kitchen and living room. The whole house suffered smoke and water damage.
The thermal-imaging camera from the sheriff's department was used to find hot spots.
When the state fire marshal inspected the ruins, he determined the blaze began at the clothes dryer. Hett said he had thrown a load of clothes into it before going to bed.
He was still in shock Thursday afternoon, happy that he and his boys were alive but not knowing just what he was going to do. His sons were with their mother in Marion. A friend offered him a place to stay.
In the blackened living room, Hett found a couple of photo albums that had been blistered but with pictures intact.
Waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive, all he could say was, "At least we're alive. That smoke alarm saved our lives."
Hett is owner and operator of Hett's Repair in Marion.
