Phone shows home on fire miles away from Super Bowl viewing

HAMPSTEAD, N.H. – A New Hampshire man says he saw his house go up in flames on his cellphone while he was nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) away watching the Super Bowl.

Michael Todesca, of Hampstead, tells WMUR-TV he was at a Chicago bar with his girlfriend on Feb. 3 rooting for the New England Patriots when he received a phone alert from his home surveillance system.

Todesca said it looked like a white screen, didn’t think anything of it, and put the phone in his pocket. He got more alerts and thought someone had broken into his house. Then a neighbour called to say his home was on fire.

He saw the burning house on his phone. At one point, he talked with firefighters, trying to help them get inside.

Todesca said an electrical problem caused the fire.

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Information from: WMUR-TV, http://wmur.com