Dec. 20—SHAFT — A Shaft Road family of four escaped fire inside their residence late Monday when their 4-year-old son awakened to smoke in his bedroom and alerted his parents who were downstairs and unaware of the emergency.

“The boy saved all their lives,” said Roger Bennett, deputy director of the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services. “The parents called 911 and got everyone out.”

The displaced family was sitting safely in their pickup when volunteer firefighters arrived from the nearby Shaft fire station off of state Route 936 and found the boy’s bedroom filled with smoke.

No fire or smoke was visible to first-arriving firefighters who extinguished the fire that originated in kitchen ceiling wiring directly beneath the 4-year-old’s bedroom.

“It was accidental and electrical in nature,” Bennett said.

Five cats and three dogs also escaped the fire that occurred at about 11 p.m. during occasional whiteout conditions as snow squalls moved through higher elevations west of the Clarysville bridge on Interstate 68 near Frostburg.

The displaced family, including their 10-year-old son, is being assisted by the American Red Cross prior to relocating to family in Pennsylvania, Bennett said.

The last unit to clear the scene left at 2:30 a.m., including Frostburg and Midland fire companies that assisted Shaft firefighters throughout the call following alert by Allegany County 911 dispatchers.