NH Homeowner's Phone Alert From Security Camera Showed Fire Breaking Out In His Living Room While Family Slept

WINDHAM, N.H. (CBS) -- A fire broke out in the living room of a New Hampshire home while everyone was sleeping Tuesday night. The only person awake was the homeowner, James, who was miles away at work. He said his Blink security camera saved his family's life.

"I looked through the camera, and what did I see? fire," homeowner James said.

James said he was at work in Danvers, Massachusetts, almost an hour away, when his security camera sent multiple messages to his phone when it sensed movement.

"I saw the fire. I tried calling my wife; she's sleeping, not answering the phone, then I called 911," James said.

Once James was able to get in contact with his wife, she and her three young children grabbed the dog and ran outside.

The Windham Fire Department got there soon afterward and put out the flames, but they give the real credit to James.

"It's not the firefighters that were the heroes, it was the husband," Fire Chief Thomas McPherson said.

Chief McPherson said thanks to James and the security camera, a potential tragedy was avoided.

"We've installed them in people's homes to deter burglars, but who would have thought it would have acted as a smoke detector," McPherson said. "This had bad written all over it, and it was a good outcome."

The family moved into the home less than a month ago and did not know the smoke alarms weren't working.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Windham Fire Prevention Bureau.