A Kenmore woman left a lit candle on a table when she took a nap, and it started a fire at a mobile home this morning in the 7300 block of Northeast 175th Street.

According to Northshore Fire Department Marshal Jeff LaFlam in a press release, firefighters were dispatched at 10:27 a.m. to the mobile home. The homeowner was asleep when she was awakened by the sound of her smoke alarm. She saw smoke and flames coming from the spare bedroom, exited through the back door and immediately called 911. Due to the early notification of the smoke alarm and the quick actions of the homeowner, the Northshore firefighters were able to contain and extinguish the fire very rapidly, LaFlam said.

Firefighters attacked the fire offensively by entering through the front door and they were able to contain the damage to a small area in the bedroom/office. The fire was under control in approximately five minutes, was determined to be accidental and the estimated damage is $5,000.

There were no firefighter or civilian injuries.

In 2011, the Northshore Fire Department completed a community risk-reduction program in the mobile-home parks located in the fire district.  Fire department staff and volunteers went door-to-door installing new smoke alarms where needed and ensuring that all existing smoke alarms were operating properly.

The department asks residents to test their smoke alarms monthly, replace batteries annually and install new smoke alarms every 10 years.

“This homeowner owes her life to having a working smoke alarm,” LaFlam said.