A fire broke out at a home on Frazier Lane in Santa Barbara just after noon on Tuesday, prompting neighbors to step in and help fight the flames before firefighters arrived.
Art Ramirez, who lives across the street, said he heard a loud banging noise before realizing the home was on fire.
“My wife comes out and tells me the house is on fire and immediately I called 911,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez said his neighbor was already outside the house, but was panicked and asked about the pets still inside the home.
“And then he and I ran to the side of the house, he got the bigger dog and I got the Yorkie,” he said.
Neighbors gathered near the home as they waited for firefighters to arrive, with some using hoses in an attempt to control the flames.
"Fire crews responded to a single-story, single-family home with visible fire," said Captain Mike Gray, Santa Barbara County Fire Department Public Information Officer. “With an aggressive interior attack, they made knockdown within 15 minutes.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Officials said one person suffered minor injuries.
Ramirez said helping his neighbor was simply the right thing to do.
“I’m just a neighbor,” he said.
