Pet parrot alerts family to house fire

[n2doc]

A smoke detector was sounding but father awoke to his parrot mocking the alarm.
By LATHAY PEGUES
[e-mail]

MUNCIE -- A parrot and a late-night movie could be the reasons a family was able to escape a devastating house fire early Friday.

Shannon Conwell, 33, said he and his 9-year-old son fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie.

The father was awakened about 3 a.m. by the sound of a smoke alarm, which turned out to be the family's Amazon parrot, Peanut, mocking the actual alarm in their home, at 908 W. 11th St.

"I grabbed my son and my bird and got out of the house," Conwell said.

The smoke alarm was sounding, but it was the bird that caught Conwell's attention.

"He was really screaming his head off," said Conwell, adding that Peanut, a member of the family for about six months, was able to mock almost any sound or word.

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