"Just desperation:" Neighbor rushes to alert sleeping man, woman, child to fire caused by grill



GREENFIELD -- A husband, wife and child were able to escape their burning home after officials with the Greenfield Fire Department say a common grilling mistake caused the structure to go up in flames.

Officials with the Greenfield Fire Department on Sunday, June 12th shared a photo to Facebook showing the devastation left behind after a fire that was ignited by a grill.

FOX6 News is told the fire, which occurred at a home on S. 33rd Street, was extinguished around 4:30 Sunday morning.

Fire in Greenfield



Fire in Greenfield



Everyone in the home was able to escape safely when a neighbor repeatedly rang the doorbell and the dog started barking.

Jeriel Alvarez



"I just noticed this burning smell like, right across there. Then I see light," Jeriel Alvarez said.

Alvarez's neighbor's home was on fire, and he captured video of the fire with his cell phone.

"I got to the house. The back was completely on fire. I grabbed the phone and started ringing on the doorbell," Alvarez said.

Alvarez called for help while trying to alert those inside the home.



"Just quick reactions like, you gotta get out. We gotta help you out. Gotta get the baby, anyone else in the house -- just desperation at that point. There was a mother and a child and a husband and they were all sleeping at the time," Alvarez said.

Officials with the Greenfield Fire Department arrived to battle the blaze.

"Found smoke and fire coming from the roof and the eves of the structures. Possible cause of the fire was a grill that had tipped over -- possibly during some high winds (Saturday) evening. The family stated they were grilling (Saturday) night about 9:00," Lt. Brian Krueger with the Greenfield Fire Department said.



Greenfield Fire officials are reminding folks that with grilling comes risk.

"Keep the grill at least 10 feet away from a structure. Don`t grill on combustible decks, that sort of thing. Always want to use a patio or cement slab. It can actually take up to four to seven days for those coals to cool down enough where they're are safe to be put in a metal container," Lt. Krueger said.



Fire officials say this home did have working smoke detectors -- but since the fire was trapped in the attic space, the alarms didn't sound.

Grilling safety (PHOTO: Greenfield Fire Department)