"It's Smoky in Here!"

“Three more minutes in bed and you would be dead,” is what a first responder told ADT customer Kathy Grainger the night of a fire in her Renton, WA home.

“I will never forget those words,” said Kathy. “I owe my life to ADT.”

On March 23, Kathy showed her appreciation to ADT and to the Renton Regional Fire Authority during a LifeSaver event at her home.

Kathy explained how she was asleep in her bedroom and was awakened by the sound of her ADT smoke detector. She went toward her den and walked into a wall of smoke coming from her fireplace which she had just used for the first time since moving into her house.

About then, ADT dispatchers from both the Jacksonville and Knoxville Customer Care Centers started receiving the fire alarms and phoned Kathy. After verifying the fire and advising Kathy to evacuate, they contacted 911. With Kathy and her cat, Friskers, safely outside, firefighters battled the blaze.

“One of the firefighters asked me if there was anything he could retrieve from inside,” Kathy said. “I told him the only irreplaceable possession I wanted was a framed painting my son created when he was ten. Within minutes, I had it in my hands.”

The fire was out in a few hours. Investigators determined the cause was deterioration of the fireplace’s brick mortar which allowed the fire to seep into the walls. While Kathy will be displaced for several months, she is grateful her life, and Friskers, were spared.

At the ADT LifeSaver event, Kathy greeted her rescuers for the first time since the fire. A highlight was meeting Elizabeth Bennett from ADT’s National Sales Center in Jacksonville who sold Kathy her ADT system in 2015. Kathy also met Melissa Glover, one of the ADT dispatchers who received the alarm signal and Jose Gandara from ADT’s Field Support Center in Aurora, CO who set up Kathy’s account. Pat Cuff and Aaron Lee, who installed and serviced Kathy’s system, were also there.

All five employees were presented ADT LifeSaver Awards by Jess Newman, ADT Senior Vice President.

“It’s a real honor and very rewarding to know that you had a hand in helping save a life,” said Melissa. “I am very proud to work at ADT.”

Additionally, Jess awarded $5,000 to the Renton Regional Fire Authority. Accepting was Fire Chief Rick Marshall who said Kathy’s fire was a “classic example of everyone working together for a successful outcome.”

Following the LifeSaver event at Kathy’s home, there was a Meet a Customer for Life celebration at the ADT branch in Tacoma.

Wearing shirts that read “We Help Save Lives for a Living,” about 50 ADT employees greeted Kathy upon arrival. Included in the group were Joe Longfield, ADT Regional Vice President, along with Aaron Hoskins and Erik Isakson, both ADT Area General Managers.

At the conclusion of the festivities, Kathy said, “You can replace a lot of things, but you can’t replace a life. Without the ADT monitored system, they wouldn’t have gotten the call, they wouldn’t have been there in time to save my house, my life and my cat. I am very grateful.”