Fire crews rescue 3 pets from blaze that spread from garage to a home

Neighbours are being credited with raising the alarm Sunday morning after a southeast garage fire spread to a home with two people inside.

The couple, who were in the basement, were alerted by neighbours banging on the door and managed to escape safely.

Fire crews arrived to the100 block of Pensacola Close S.E. just before 11 a.m., where they were met by a fully-involved blaze in a detached garage, which had spread to the nearby home, so a second alarm was called in.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Anti-carbon tax rally in Calgary draws 3 Conservative leadership hopefuls
• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Scooter guy picks up new set of wheels

Firefighters managed to save a rabbit and two cats from the blaze, which were returned to their owners.

"Crews took a defensive stance on the garage because it was unsafe to go into that structure but made a pretty aggressive interior attack on the house," said Batt. Chief Paul LeBlanc.

"The fire had spread into the kitchen and up into the attic space. There was substantial damage to the garage and the house itself so [the residents] won't be going back in anytime soon."

LaBlanc said residents living in the upstairs portion of the house were not home at the time.

Crews remained for some time dousing hot spots and Investigators are searching for a cause of the blaze.