Flames shot out of the roof of a Winter Springs home, but a daring neighbor braved the fire and the heat and went into the burning building to save the family pets still trapped inside.
Investigators said a pool problem may have started the fire. Investigators think a pump next to the house might have overheated and ignited the fire.
The home is almost a total loss. The flames burned clear through the roof. The family who lives there said the most important thing, though, is all of them are safe.
By the time someone noticed the fire, flames had already filled much of the Winter Springs home.
"I called 911 and told them the situation and by the time I hung up with them you couldn't see the top of the house. It was black smoke," said neighbor Anna Barbarossa.
The owners were at work, but neighbors knew the family's two dogs were stuck inside.
"Everybody was most concerned about the dogs," Barbarossa said.
With the fire growing and firefighters still minutes away, one neighbor, who said he doesn't want the publicity, broke into the burning home and rescued the two animals.
Tom Entenmann considers the dogs, Wingnut and Bolt, to be family.
"These are my buddies. Glad nothing happened to them," he said.
They were at his father's house when it caught on fire.
"Luckily, everyone was at work. So nobody was in the house to get hurt. Somebody got the dogs out, so we're all right," Entenmann said.
Barbarossa, the next door neighbor who called firefighters, had six kids staying at her home daycare. They eventually all had to leave.
"When the smoke got really, really bad and the flames were going up to the trees, then they told me to evacuate," she said.
Once the kids got calmed down and the fire got put out, Entenmann gave thanks. His family lost a house, but at least they have each other and their dogs.
"It looks pretty bad. Everything can be replaced. It's just stuff," he said.
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