A Grafton family is safe thanks to a stranger that drove past their home and saw flames.
The family had grilled out the night before and went to sleep thinking the charcoal had gone one. But a spark almost cost them everything.
Early the next morning Nick Liebenstein was heading to work.
“At first I smelled a campfire and I thought, 'Who is having a campfire this early in the morning?'" he said.
He then spotted the flames, and called 9-1-1. He raced to the door to wake the family up.
“I kind of jogged like this, rang it a few times, stepped back like this and that's when their son came out,” he said.
The Grafton Police showed up and helped the family of seven escape. Officers even saved two dogs.
"When you are sleeping you don't smell smoke. In this case, it helped to have somebody knock on their door,” said Grafton Fire Chief William Rice.
The Grafton fire chief said even if you think the charcoal in your grill is out, embers can ignite a fire many hours later.
“In this case, the fire was above them. It was above the ceiling, it was in the attic,” said Rice.
Despite the house being right off a busy road, the fire department says Liebenstein was the only one to stop. He didn’t think twice about calling 9-1-1.
“Absolutely not. I didn't care if a hundred people already called I would have made that call anyway,” he said.
