By Gabe Starosta
News & Observer
SMITHFIELD, N.C. — A couple and their three children escaped an early morning fire at their home Monday thanks to Officer W. Thomas Lee of the Smithfield Police Department.
Lee was on patrol just after 2a.m. when he saw a car burning in the carport at 1411 W. Market St., where Javier Ramirez, Maria Mejia and their children, ages 12 to 18, were sleeping. Lee banged loudly on the front door and on several windows before managing to wake the family.
According to the police department, the family left through a bedroom window to avoid moving about the burning home. No one was injured.
The fire had spread to the attic and roof of the house by the time firefighters arrived just before 2:20 a.m., Smithfield Fire Marshal Paul Whitehurst said.
The blaze began when the engine of the family’s 2003 Ford Mustang somehow caught fire.
Whitehurst said the fire was under control within the hour. In addition to severely damaging the house, the fire destroyed the Mustang and a Jeep Grand Cherokee and damaged a Honda Civic, a Ford F-150 pickup and a trailer attached to it, he said.
In a police statement, family members said they were asleep at the time and credited Lee for their escape.
“If it hadn’t been for the police officer that saw [the fire], it would have been a
Copyright 2009 News & Observer