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Security system saved Burr Ridge woman and her home
Tri-State Deputy Fire Chief Jack Mancione lights the fire on the Sept. 11 memorial during the dedication at the Tri-State Fire Department in 2011. A $5,000 award received from ADT Home Security will help keep the memorial's eternal flame burning. | Steve
Updated: April 1, 2013 2:05AM
BURR RIDGE — A Burr Ridge woman was ready to step into the shower the morning of Dec. 5 when she heard her ADT smoke detector begin to beep.
In the seconds it took Stacey Toscas to discover her dining room was ablaze, an ADT Home Security operator in New York also got the signal and called Toscas’ home.
“Like a lot of people, she didn’t think about calling 911 right away,” said Bob Tucker, ADT director of corporate affairs
But the ADT operator did, and within minutes the Tri-State Fire Protection District was there.
“The house was full of smoke,” Tri-State chief Michelle Gibson said
She said the fire, which started with a candle on a dining room table, could have destroyed the home in minutes.
“It had great potential,” she said.
Had Toscas’ home not been protected with a smoke detector linked to an ADT operator, Gibson said Toscas might never have survived that morning shower.
“The whole system saved her life,” Gibson said.
In recognition of the role Tri-State played in thwarting the near-disaster, ADT presented the district with a $5,000 check last week, which will help the district keep its 911 memorial on Plainfield Road maintained and its eternal flame burning.
Next month, Jim and Stacey Toscas will fly to New York, where they will present the company’s Lifesaver Award to the operator who saved Toscas and her home.
“It’s the company’s highest honor,” Tucker said.
Toscas said she looks forward to thanking the operator in person.
“I’m very grateful to ADT. Another minute, I would have been in the shower. I would have been trapped,” she said.
