SHAWNEE, Kan. --
Shawnee fire crews battled a house fire that posed several problems Friday morning at 5203 Woodsonia Drive.
Fire crews were called to the house, which is just east of Kansas 7 Highway, shortly before 5:30 a.m.
Shawnee Fire Department officials said everyone who was inside the house made it out safely.
"Turns out the house is one of our off-duty firefighters who was getting ready for work this morning," said Shawnee Fire Investigator John Mattox. "There was nothing he could do. He didn't have his gear. He had a lot of fire early on in that garage so he didn't even try to put it out, which is the smart thing to do."
Fire crews used foam to deal with gasoline and tires in the garage of the home.
"You stand there and you watch that happen, it's such a helpless feeling," said neighbor Barry Allcorn. "It had a lot of smoke, a lot of flames coming out. We heard a lot of cracking and popping."
It was unclear where in the home the fire started, fire crews said.
"Being a firefighter and experiencing this on probably a regular basis, he knew exactly what to do and how to do it, and that certainly saved the loss of life," Allcorn said. "You don't care about your property when you've got your family.Your heart goes out to them any time there's a devastating loss like that."
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