BRACKENRIDGE, Pa.
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Fire crews in Allegheny County were called to battle a double house fire on Tuesday.
Fire crews responded to the 900 block of Roup Avenue in Brackenridge just after 3 a.m.
According to county 911 dispatchers, both homes were occupied at the time of the fire, but the people inside were able to escape without injury.
Channel 4 Action News' Janelle Hall reported that a neighbor said he awoke to the sound of his neighbors screaming that their house was on fire.
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Images From The Scene
"Just a bunch of screaming, 'My house is on fire! My house is on fire!' Real early in the morning. Next thing I knew, the fire from their back deck (came) onto mine. I was pretty scared then," said neighbor Mike Vardis.
Vardis said when he spoke to his neighbors, they told him that their dog's barking woke them up and saved their lives.
"She's our hero," said Keith Rankin, who escaped the flames. "She's the one who woke us up."
"Her name is Hero. She was my hero. She's the one who barked and was making such a fuss or we never would have been up. We never would have made it out," said Keith Rankin's wife, Wendy.
The couple who lived in the home with their teenage son told Hall Hero saved the family.
Family members said they think the fire started in their kitchen and fire crews said that's the area of the home where they're focusing their investigation.
Keith Rankin is a firefighter who tried to battle the fire with a fire extinguisher, but the flames were too intense. He said he never imagined his home would catch on fire.
"You never think about that. You try to take precautions so it wouldn't happen to you, but in an older house like that (it can)," Rankin said.
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