“We all watch movies and TV shows, and we see on the news how others are affected by home fires. You never expect it to happen to you. When it does, it’s surreal.” At 1 a.m. on a Thursday night, Paula woke up in pitch blackness to a beeping sound and a strange crackling noise coming from the ceiling. It was when she walked outside that she discovered smoke coming from the roof of her home — she quickly sprang into action and started alerting everyone about the fire. “I usually watch my tablet in bed and wear headphones so as to not interrupt my husband’s sleep since he wakes up very early to go to work,” she said. “On that night, I don’t know why I put my device away and I never put my headphones on which now — what a blessing I didn’t because I was able to warn everyone about the fire.” The crackling sound turned out to be an electrical fire that started in her attic and the beeping was her mother’s oxygen machine losing its source of power. The hours following the home fire were ...