Awakened by a smoke alarm, a Madras family of four narrowly escaped out a back bedroom window early Wednesday morning when a malfunctioning water heater sparked a house fire that blocked both the front and back doors, an official said.
Jefferson County Fire District No. 1 crews responded around 6:30 a.m. to the reported house fire in the 600 block of Northeast Lakeside Drive, Deputy Chief Kasey Skaar said.
A smoke alarm went off in the hallway, waking up and alerting the family to the blaze, he said.
The fire apparently was caused by a malfunction of the water heater, located in a kitchen closet. The fire in the kitchen prevented the father, mother and two children from being able to get out the front or back doors, Skaar said.