CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Two dogs were rescued with the help of an off-duty firefighter after a garage caught fire in the Fentress section of Chesapeake Saturday morning.
According to the Chesapeake Fire Department, crews were called to the fire in the 100 block of Downing Drive at 9:24 a.m. An off-duty firefighter was across the street from the garage when he heard a smoke detector going off and smelled a faint smell of smoke.
The firefighter crossed the street and called in the incident through the 911 system, then heard barking coming from the garage and forced the side door open. He then crawled through the smoke-filled structure and found the dog in a cage.
The dog was rescued and turned over to responding crews arriving on the scene, who found a second dog inside the house during a primary search of the structure. EMS crews provided aid to both dogs, who are expected to recover.
The fire was marked under control at 9:41 a.m. and reported out at 9:48 a.m. No one was home when the fire started, fire officials said.
No firefighters were injured during the incident, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
