In a heartwarming display of technological superiority over human incompetence, a functioning smoke detector in Hoquiam, Washington, somehow managed to alert two adults and one child to the fact that their house was on fire. We're not sure what's more impressive - the smoke detector's ability to detect smoke or the family's lack of awareness that their home was spontaneously combusting.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but we're guessing it had something to do with a faulty sense of responsibility among the household members. I mean, who needs working smoke detectors when you've got people who can't even be bothered to check if the stove is off?
Firefighters from Hoquiam and Aberdeen arrived on the scene at 8:30 a.m., which is roughly the same time most people are still in bed and wondering where they put their keys. They were joined by two fire chiefs, because apparently one wasn't enough to handle the sheer magnitude of this emergency.
The crew made a "transitional attack" from outside before moving inside, which we assume is a fancy way of saying they threw some water at the flames until they stopped burning. Miraculously, no one was injured in the blaze, mostly because the smoke detector had already alerted them to evacuate and they were too busy arguing over whose turn it was to do the dishes to actually stay in the house.
In conclusion, we're just glad that someone (or something) was paying attention while this family was busy being oblivious. Smoke detectors: because sometimes you need a little help saving yourself from your own ineptitude.