Eric and Beth learned firsthand just how valuable Ring devices can be when they were away from home this holiday season. The couple lives in Knoxville, Tenn., but went out of town for Thanksgiving. When they got an alert on their Ring app that Friday, they checked the live view from their Ring Video Doorbell Pro and realized just how fortuitous that timing was.

The motion at their door turned out to be innocuous, but then they noticed something really worrisome — they heard an alarm in the background and realized it was their smoke detector going off. Quickly, Eric asked his neighbor and friend Tyler to go check out the house. When Tyler got there, he discovered that the detector was going off for a reason: The house was on fire. He immediately left and called 911. The fire department arrived quickly and was able to put out the fire before it destroyed the home.

The family kept watching as the events unfolded through the live view on the Ring app: “We watched the fire trucks come [and] we watched them go into our house,” Beth recalled.

Their home sustained some fire and water damage, but “it could [have been] much worse,” Beth said. Their traditional smoke detector wasn’t able to notify them of the fire, so without incidentally hearing the alarm from the Ring doorbell, “we would not have known until it was far too late.” She added that “the fire would have completely destroyed our home.”

Even though the experience was terrifying and overwhelming, Beth said they’ve been touched by the kindness of their neighbors, who immediately cleaned out the debris and cooked them dinner so they wouldn’t come home to a total mess.

After this incident, Beth said they plan to upgrade their system to include more Ring products to help with fire prevention in the future.

“The Ring system makes me feel so safe, both when I am at home and away,” she said, adding that they gave Tyler and his family a Ring Video Doorbell Pro as a thank you gift.

Over the holidays in particular, there’s nothing more important than being able to relax with loved ones knowing your home is secure. The Ring Alarm Security System is particularly valuable this time of year. It’s an easy-to-install DIY home security kit that lets you customize your system to fit your needs, making sure your home is protected no matter where you are. One add-on that’s especially useful in the event of a fire is the Alarm Smoke & CO Listener, which sends you real-time mobile notifications whenever it hears sirens from smoke or carbon monoxide detectors that are already in your home.

Eric and Beth were incredibly fortunate that they were able to hear their smoke detector going off via their Ring Video Doorbell, and that their neighbor Tyler was able to come by so quickly. With the Smoke & CO Listener, they would have been alerted directly through the Ring app. And if they’d signed up for Ring Protect Plus Plan’s professional monitoring, the Ring Alarm would have notified the 24/7 monitoring team, which would have immediately called the family and requested help from the fire department.

At Ring, our mission is to make neighborhoods safer, so we design our products and services to help protect homes and give residents peace of mind. Check out more of Ring’s devices here. No matter where your travels take you this holiday season, with Ring, you’re always home.