Instinct kicked into high gear when retired Phoenix firefighter Dana Lambert spotted smoke coming from a house.
"The neighbors are screaming that there are two girls inside. Propane tanks are blowing up on the right side of the house," Lambert told a reporter.
“As a fireman, you can read the smoke. You know that was a really early fire. I just jumped out of my car and jumped over the fence and just got there as quick as I could.”
Lambert said he heard the girls screaming and crying in their bedroom. He climbed through a window to help get them out along with their dog, WTVM reported.
“You don’t think about it. you assume the risk, you go in and you pull the kids out. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. The ones like this are victories that help balance it out."
He helped Phoenix firefighters prevent the fire from spreading to nearby houses.
"They are very scared, and their home is destroyed, and their parents aren't there, so when the mom comes, or the aunt comes, it's a deep moment for me, too. It makes you cry because it feels good that they are safe," he added.
