Working smoke alarms are being credited with saving two lives in a fire that destroyed a Lakeshore Dr. home in Leamington on Tuesday morning.

“It took firefighters a couple of hours to knock it down. It was a pretty substantial fire,” says Chuck Parsons, the Leamington fire chief noting crews arrived on scene shortly after 4am on Tuesday to find the two people living in the home had already gotten out through a window after being woken up by smoke alarms in the house.

Firefighters couldn’t leave until around 9am after putting out hotspots in the home.

“They’re distraught about the fire, however they are grateful for the smoke alarms that got them out,” says Parsons. “They’re sad about their possessions, but happy to be alive.”

The house is a total loss with damage pegged at $250,000 while a cause couldn’t be determined because damage was too extensive.