MIAMI – A family of five in Miami woke up Friday morning to smoke billowing in their bedrooms.
"I was panicking because I really couldn't breathe," Constance Doughty told Local 10 News.
Doughty said her husband's quick actions around 5 a.m. kept everyone safe at their home in the 1400 block of Northwest 59th Street.
"I told my husband I couldn't breathe, so that's when he was, like, closed the door back and he busted the windows out and we got out, ran out and got the kids out."
After smashing windows and pulling their teenage children out, the father turned on the water hose and tried to put the fire out.
When firefighters arrived to the home, they said the family's dogs held them up.
"There were two pit bulls that were out there protecting the home. The father was able to secure the dogs and we were able to get in and secure the rest of the fire," Miami Fire Rescue Capt. Ignatius Carroll said.
Carroll said an exposed wire running from an A/C unit was sitting on top of a couch and that's what sparked the flames.
Ultimately, the three teens and their mother were bandaged up at the scene for cuts.
"My arms cut up, my hands, my feet and thigh," Doughty said.
Doughty's husband was taken to a hospital to be treated and is expected to be OK. Doughty and her children, meanwhile, are grateful everyone is alive.
"My advice to everyone that has window units, you have to be careful because they are dangerous -- very dangerous," Doughty said.