By Dan Dakin, St. Catharines Standard

Friday, March 15, 2013 1:07:10 EDT PM

Thorold fire chief Chris Halliday said working smoke alarms likely kept five Brock University students from being injured.
Dan Dakin, Standard Staff

The smoke alarms rang out alerting the five young occupants their house was on fire.

They briefly tried to fight the flames with the fire extinguisher their landlord had installed and showed them how to use, but when things got out of control they ran outside to a set location in the front yard.

As cliché as it sounds, this one could have been much worse.

“Working smoke alarms will save your life and it happened right here,” Thorold fire chief Chris Halliday said Friday morning while standing on the lawn in front of 179 St. David's Rd. in Thorold.

It was inside the two-storey home just after 7 p.m. Thursday night that the five Brock University students who rent the home realized one of the upstairs bedrooms was on fire.

“When we got here, they were all out safely,” Halliday said. “It speaks to this issue of working smoke alarms on every floor alerting you quickly. They got out and called 911. They did the right thing.”

Property owner Frank Serravalle bought the house as an investment two years ago and said he takes fire safety seriously.

“Every six months we change the batteries in the smoke alarms and we teach (the renters) what to do and where to meet if there's a fire,” he said. “Before they walk in we teach them fire safety.”

Damage is estimated at $50,000 and the cause is still being investigated, but Halliday said it's not considered suspicious.