Alerted to a garage fire by his 7-year-old son, Richard Block had to act fast.
"Kind of went into panic mode a little bit," he said.
As the flames spread to his house in Howard Lake, Block made sure his family was safe — he, his girlfriend, and the six kids between them — as well as his four dogs and his lizard. But then the fire spread to his next-door neighbor.
"I did hear her little Chihuahua bark, then it kind of kicked in — she's not even home. I looked in the driveway and sure enough she wasn't home," Block said.
Flames and smoke coming through the back — he got her three dogs out of the kennels in the front.
"I really think I was on autopilot more than anything. Just do what needs to be done. Don't even think about it. Just go do it," Block said.