WINFIELD — Hours before she was planning to leave to join her husband in Maine on vacation, the wife of Union Township Fire Chief David Allan Anderson escaped unharmed from an early-morning electrical fire that broke out in the downstairs living room, causing heavy damage to their Winfield home.

Kelly Anderson was asleep in their home at 21 Roush Lane when she was awakened at 12:04 a.m. Monday by smoke detectors.

“She ran out of the house and went to her father’s house, which was about 100 yards away,” said Union Township Deputy Chief Steve Anderson, David Anderson’s brother. “In the initial excitement, she had left her cell phone in the burning house. She phoned us from her father’s house. But before we could get there, she got a garden hose and started putting out the fire herself.”

Anderson said that as the volunteers fought the blaze, he was in constant cell-phone contact with his brother.

He said the fire was contained to the living room area of the home, but there was smoke and water damage throughout the two-story dwelling. “There was a tremendous amount of heat inside,” he said. “It took about 15 minutes to get under control.”

Assisting the Union Township Fire Company were fire and rescue personnel from Lewisburg, New Berlin and Shamokin Dam.

State police Fire Marshal Norman Fedder investigated the fire. He said the blaze started in the living room area beneath the computer where a surge protector with several cords were located.

Fedder ruled it an accidental electrical fire.

The damage to the house was estimated at $50,000. The Andersons are insured for the loss.

Steve Anderson said: “I guess the lesson to be learned here is to check and double check your smoke detectors. This was a perfect example of how they can work to save lives.”