Four people living near Sequiota Park in Springfield are lucky to be alive after their house caught fire this morning. Fire marshal Mark Epps says the fire started in the 3400 block of south Barbett when a furnace malfunctioned. Epps says the family woke up about 6:15 this morning to the smell of gas. They went outside, and when they came back, didn't notice anything wrong. He says they went back to sleep, but the homeowner woke up to smoke and got everyone out. Epps says the family was lucky because they didn't have a working smoke detector. The furnace was turned on the for the first time last night, and caught fire this morning. Epps says the fire did only minor damage.
updated 9:52am 10/3/08