DULUTH, Minn. – Ten-year-old Spencer Stroschein's messy bedroom may have saved his family's life.
Spencer usually sleeps in the basement of his family's home in Alborn Township in St. Louis County. But because his bed was full of stuff, he was sleeping in the family den early Tuesday when he awoke to flames shooting through the floor.
The family has smoke detectors, but the fire wasn't creating much smoke. It was Spencer who served as the alarm, waking his parents and two younger brothers in time to flee.
His mother, Dana, says the family wouldn't have awakened if Spencer hadn't gotten them up.
The home was a total loss. The family also lost their 11-week-old yellow Lab puppy.
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