ADT Celebrates Efforts that Saved Home, Dog From House Fire

Thanks to the actions of ADT’s staff and first responders, the family dog and much of the Carrescia family’s home was saved from a fire while they were away.
PHOTO BY SDM STAFF

LEATRICE — Leatrice Johnson (shown in the center hugging Dave Carrescia), the ADT dispatcher who flew in from ADT’s Customer Care Center in Jacksonville, Fla., where the fire alarm was received, meets the family whose home she helped save. For reporting the fire, Johnson was presented ADT’s highest honor, a LifeSaver Award.

PHOTO BY SDM STAFF

MAGGIE — The family dog, Maggie, was home alone and trapped in her pet crate as flames and heavy smoke spread throughout the house before first responders saved her and most of the home.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ADT

On October 26, 2017, ADT, ranked No. 1 on the SDM 100, celebrated one of its LifeSaver events in New York City with ADT customer Dave Carrescia and his family.

Carrescia was near his New York City office when ADT called, alerting to a fire and stating that first responders were on their way to his Greenwich, Conn., home. The family dog, Maggie, was home alone and trapped in her pet crate as flames and heavy smoke spread throughout the house, ADT reported.

“We owe Maggie’s life, and the safety of our home and family possessions, to ADT,” said Carrescia. “Without ADT professional monitoring my family and I believe Maggie would no longer be with us today and our house would have burned to the ground.”

Carrescia explained that Maggie was minutes from dying when Firefighters, summoned by ADT, broke through a door, opened the crate and rescued her. An electrical surge caused an old power strip in the Carrescias’ basement to fail, filling the home with smoke. Greenwich Firefighters took Maggie outside and bravely battled the fire, saving the home and many of the family’s irreplaceable possessions.

At the LifeSaver celebration at the Best Buy in Columbus Circle, Carrescia’s wife, Lawton, and their three children, along with Maggie, greeted their rescuers for the first time since the fire. They also met Leatrice Johnson, the ADT dispatcher who flew in from ADT’s Customer Care Center in Jacksonville, Fla., where the fire alarm was received. For reporting the fire which helped save Maggie, Johnson was presented ADT’s highest honor, a LifeSaver Award.

The event also featured the availability of the Samsung SmartThings ADT home security system. Consumers can now help create a safe and secure home while also growing their connected home ecosystem, ADT described. The kit is backed by ADT professional monitoring.

The Carrescia’s were given the first kit to help protect them in their temporary home until moving back in to their permanent home next year.

Also, ADT presented $10,000 to the Greenwich Fire Department, as well as the FDNY Foundation, on behalf of the New York City Fire Department, as a thank you for the live-saving work of their departments. Samsung donated ADT Home Security Starter Kits and ADT Home Safety Expansion Packs to deserving first responders, along with six months of ADT service.

“Smoke detectors save lives, but a monitored fire system, which gives early notification to the fire department, is much better,” said Lt. Steven Whittaker of the Greenwich Fire Department. “It’s always rewarding when you can help out a family like the Carrescias and minimize losses.”

For more about ADT’s DIY offering, which will be available next week, visit https://www.sdmmag.com/articles/94376-adt-to-monitor-samsung-diy-package.