2 houses burn in Lexington subdivision off Liberty Road

A homeowner whose house was one of two heavily damaged in a fire Monday on Smugglers Notch Drive off Liberty Road told firefighters that he first noticed the blaze when he saw the fence separating the houses was burning.

The fire initially was reported at 668 Smugglers Notch, but it spread to the house at 664. Both were heavily damaged, with melted vinyl siding and charred wood.

The homeowner at 668 told firefighters he smelled smoke and noticed the fence was on fire, Battalion Chief Todd Samuelson said. He was able to get out of the house with his animals. The homeowner declined further comment.

No one was home at 664 Smugglers Notch when the blaze broke out, Samuelson said.

Tifany Perrine saw the smoke and drove toward the source. Perrine said she could tell it was a house fire that had just started.

A neighbor, Suhail Farhat, said he saw fire on the roof of 668 and rushed to the scene.

The pair said they expected the fire would spread to the house at 664.

“We started beating on the door, hollering, and out of nowhere she just decided to turn the doorknob and it opened,” Farhat said of Perrine. “We started screaming and hollering for people, and that’s when the dogs started barking. ... I was hoping I wouldn’t get bit.”

Perrine said they were able to get the dogs out of the house. She said she noticed a litter box, but smoke was flowing down a stairway, and they were unable to search for a cat.

Perrine said she wasn’t the hero, firefighters were. Farhat agreed.

“I watch TV and I see houses go on fire, and whoever goes in and gets the people out, I mean it’s human nature,” he said. “You can’t ignore something like that.”

Samuelson said investigators were trying to determine the cause of the fire and couldn’t say it spread between the houses.

This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 2:13 PM with the headline "2 houses burn in Lexington subdivision off Liberty Road."