Man Escapes Fire In His Own Building, Credits App For Alerting Him
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A local student escaped a fire in his own building, and he says he has an app to thank.
A sea of flashing red lights filled Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights as fire ripped through to apartment early in the morning of Sept. 9, 2018. Resident Dan Humphrey was asleep inside when he smelled the smoke.
"I had an air conditioner in so I thought it might have just been, you know, somebody having a fire outside or something. I don't know, it was 3 o'clock in the morning, so I wasn't thinking clearly," he told CBSN New York's Jessica Moore.
Humphrey said he saw an alert pop up on his phone from Citizen App, and in the blink of an eye, everything changed.
"I think it said 'Fire reported at 385 Fort Washington'," he said.
"So when you see that, and you're smelling smoke, what's going through your head?" Moore asked.
"I've got to get out of my apartment, and quick," he said.
Humphrey said he woke up his girlfriend and a friend staying with them, all the while following the fire's progress on his Citizen App.
"At the same time, I'm seeing on my phone trucks are being dispatched, firefighters are being sent. So we walk around the corner to where the elevator is, and there's a woman standing there throwing hose up the stairs... a firefighter," he said.
"Do you credit the app for your safety, in a way?" Moore asked.
"Absolutely," he said. "I think, without the app, there were no alarms going off in the building. So, without the app, I don't know how much longer I would've stayed in the building."
Citizen is a free app that tracks things like thefts, fires and car crashes called in to 911 in your area. Red dots signify where the incident is happening and allow other people in the area to report what they see and upload photos and videos.
"I think we live in an age now where people want to help their neighbors and want to, you know, contribute to social but also, you know, beneficial news," Humphrey said.
Humphrey says he's grateful for the app and is also now more likely to contribute content himself to help his neighbors stay safe and informed in the future.