Leaving earlier than normal for work Tuesday, Laura Stronczek thought it was just early-morning fog as she walked out of her home at 2609 Merivale St., about 6:40 a.m.

But Stronczek quickly realized it was smoke coming from a fire at the home of her elderly neighbors, Dean and Eleanor Shidler, of 3539 Rolston Ave. After calling 911, Stronczek called her neighbors' house across the street at 2602 Merivale St., and got 14-year-old Ashley Franke to rouse her brother, Ben Franke, 19.

“Luckily, for whatever reason, I went to work early (and) Ben was home,” Stronczek said Tuesday. “I was just so thankful because I knew if I had to do something, I need muscle. I needed help.”

As Stronczek banged on the Shidlers' front door, Ben Franke, who had hastily thrown on clothes, sprinted about 40 yards to the side of the house and banged on windows until Dean Shidler yelled to him from a rear window.

By then, the heat was so intense that a small part of Franke's hair was singed after he reached into the window to help the Shidlers out.

After his wife was safe, Dean Shidler wanted to rescue his dog, but Franke said he stopped him because it was unsafe. A firefighter later rescued the dog.

“Just seeing the smoke come out was enough to make me want to get him out,” Franke said. “If he had went for the dog, he probably would've got burned really bad.”

Franke said the Shidlers were doing well and grateful when he visited them at Parkview Hospital. Both were treated and released Tuesday.

Firefighters, who were on the scene at 6:45 a.m., brought the fire under control at 8:11 a.m., according to Capt. Matt Brokaw, a fire department spokesman.

Firefighters returned to the home about 8:05 p.m. to re-extinguish some smoldering embers. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Franke's mother, Karen Franke, credited divine intervention for the rescue. “They were in the right place at the right time,” she said of her son and Stronczek.

Franke, who grew up across the street from the Shidlers, called the rescue his “good deed for the day” and said he didn't consider waiting for firefighters.

“Why would I wait and leave friends of mine inside?”