Peoria man and his dog escape as fire destroys home

PEORIA, AZ - A Peoria man and his dog are staying with neighbors after narrowly escaping a fire that engulfed his home early Wednesday morning.

Both were sleeping when a smoke detector sounded around 3 a.m. at the home near Lake Pleasant Parkway and 95th Avenue.

"We heard the alarm and smoke detector and that’s what woke me up, but my dog, she just kept running back inside, it took me a few tries to get her out," said homeowner Bill Hein.

Fire crews say when they arrived shortly after 3:30 a.m. the fire had completely raced through the home.

"It took us only a few minutes to realize we had to fight this fire defensively. We couldn't get a firefighter inside," said Captain Saul Salinas with the Peoria Fire Department.

Salinas said it appeared the fire started in the garage and possibly the attic.

"There's a huge hole in the roof, which tells us it may have been burning in the attic for a while," said Salinas.

The noise from the fire also woke up several neighbors.

"I've never seen anything like that with the flames shooting up out of it and insulation falling... it was hard watching someone's life go up in smoke," a neighbor told ABC15.

Fire crews were able to save a fire proof safe that was kept in the home, but everything else was destroyed including the house.

"They did a great job. They did their best," said Hein as he looked over what was left of the home.