06 Feb ADT Customer in Kirkland Washington met people that saved his life
Dr Jim Zimmerman, a 71 year old resident and an ADT customer in Kirkland Washington, woke up on Jan 5th 2013 to his house alarm blaring. He was not completely aware being part asleep still. Little did he know there was a fire in his hobby room near the basement that tripped the smoke detector down there.
First he checked the keypad to see if a burglar had tried to gain entry to the house. He said “I was confused. I didn’t know where the fire was. I just heard a noise and I thought it was the burglar alarm.”
Once he smelled the smoke he made his way to the room that the fire was in and when he opened the door smoke billowed out and he saw 3 foot flames.
While he was trying to figure out what the noise was that woke him, Chessie Barrett, a 22 year old woman and the ADT emergency dispatcher, got the call. She was 2500 miles away in ADT’s South Florida Central Station. She said, “My first thought was…you never know if its going to be an actual or false alarm. I contacted the premise, no answer. So I immediately dispatched the fire department and continued down the call list.”
Zimmerman had dropped to his hands and knees at this point and crawled through the dark thick smoke to retrieve a fire extinguisher. He started putting the fire out when seconds later the Kirkland Fire Dept had arrived and they told him they would take it from there. It was discovered later that the fire started from a tobacco pipe’s fallen embers.
The fire department’s captain, Ivan Huld, stated, “The house would have been heavily damaged had it not been put out”. Ivan was the first on the scene and he has been fighting fires for 15 years.
Zimmerman was emotionally drained by the time he was reunited with his wife outside the home and cried in her arms. He stated, “I know that stuff can be replaced but lives cannot. I’m just thankful Chessie was there to get the mechanism of action going behind the scenes while I was walking around the house trying to figure it out.”
On Feb 1st 2013 Zimmerman was introduced to Chessie Barrett after asking to meet her. She flew from Florida and met him in their home along with other ADT representatives, Mrs. Zimmerman, Kirkland fire fighters, and media. He held out a bouquet of yellow roses
and gave her a hug. They thanked her for her quick response and ADT gave Chessie a Lifesaver Award. Chessie said, ” I feel great about it, being located in Florida and then to save a life all the way in Washington, it’s really exciting. I recently started working for ADT in November of last year so for this to be happening as soon as it did, I’m very excited.”
In addition to giving Chessie a Lifesaver Award, ADT Chief Innovation Officer, Arthur Orduna, also presented a Lifesaver Award to two Seattle Emergency Dispatchers, Captain Huld, and two other Kirkland firefighters for their quick response. Orduna also issued the Kirkland Fire Department a check for $5000 for tools meant to help save lives. He mentioned, “Like all first responders, they put their lives on hold, as they do everyday”.
The Zimmermans got their ADT service 4 years ago and recently upgraded their 7,000 sq ft home with ADT Pulse.
What a great story of how having a monitored fire alarm system can save lives. If you do not have a smoke detector connected to your alarm system look here. Great job ADT and Kirkland Reporter, Rachel Dawson who wrote this article on Feb 1st that most of this information came from.
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