Apple's HomePod is being credited with saving a Colorado family's house fire by alerting them to a fire accidentally started by their dog.
On June 26, the Colorado Springs Fire Department received a call of a house fire and shared details and video on Facebook. The homeowner was woken up in the early hours of the morning by the blaze on his HomePod.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department claims that homeowners received “high temperature” notifications from their HomePods, alerting them to the fire, but the HomePod is not capable of sending high temperature warnings.
Instead, the HomePod has sound recognition, which allows it to detect the sound of a fire alarm and send an alert. It is likely that the HomePod used sound recognition to detect the fire and sent an alert to let the homeowner know what was happening. It is unclear why the family did not hear the fire alarm, even though the HomePod should have detected it.
HomePod Sound Recognition sends alerts to a connected iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, but doesn't provide audio notifications. You can turn on Sound Recognition by opening Settings in the Home app, going to Safety & Security, and turning on Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms under Sound Recognition.
The fire started when the family's dog accidentally turned on the stove. The homeowner had placed some boxes on the stove, but when the dog stood up on its hind legs to look at them, it turned the stove knob and turned on the burners. Video shows the dog bumping into the knob, causing the fire to break out moments later.
The homeowners were able to put the fire out before firefighters arrived and no one was injured beyond being treated for smoke inhalation.
