Menlo Park Fire Department Division Chief Frank Fraone was driving south on Interstate 280 about 1:30 p.m. when he spotted smoke rising from a duplex at 3208 Moorpark Ave.
He quickly detoured from his planned trip to take his daughter and her friend to watch soccer at Spartan Stadium.
Dressed only in shorts, flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt, Fraone was startled to discover that he was the sole firefighter at the scene. A blaze that had started in a kitchen was quickly spreading to the rest of the structure.
As smoke poured from windows, the residents evacuated -- except for a woman and her two pet pugs, who were stranded on the roof.
With Fraone's direction, neighbors carried the dogs to the ground. Then Fraone helped the woman jump to the ground.
``They didn't know who I was, but they responded,'' he said. He called the dogs ``cooperative.''
San Jose firefighters then contained the fire. No injuries have been reported in connection with the blaze, according to Allison Cabral of the San Jose Fire Department.
``When you're a firefighter, you're on 24-7,'' Fraone said. ``You just think about what needs to get done.''
