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Steamboat Springs — Neighbors rescued two dogs and moved the homeowners' vehicle to safety when a Steamboat II house caught fire Wednesday morning.

"The neighbors did an outstanding job," said Investigator Ken Klinger, with the Routt County Sheriff's Office. "There was actually one or two that physically entered the garage and tried to put the fire out with a hose."

The house in the 40500 block of Steamboat Drive belongs to Gary and Susan Loman, who were at work at the time. Fire crews were dispatched at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. The house and garage were nearly engulfed when Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue arrived, Assistant Fire Chief Bob Struble said. The fire started in the garage, authorities said.

The blaze damaged the kitchen and living areas and caused smoke damage to the entire house, Struble said. Flames shot 30 feet in the air, igniting trees, he said. No one was hurt, and crews extinguished the blaze quickly.

Ted Morton, who lives across the street, was one of the first people on the scene. Morton said he was in his living room, waiting to take his children to the bus, when he saw what he thought was the fog of a rainy morning.

"Then I saw my neighbor run out of her house," he said. "I thought, 'That's not fog, that's smoke.''"

Morton said he ran into the street and called 911. That's when he and others heard the dogs barking.

They checked the garage, he said. The back wall of the room was completely in flames, but the dogs weren't around. Morton and others found the pair, Tico and Winnie, inside the house. Morton put the frightened animals in his yard.

Another neighbor, Scott Glynn, moved a truck from the driveway after finding the keys in the cab.

"They acted fast and did the right thing," Susan Loman said. "They did what needed to be done."

Her husband agreed.

"The neighbors were outstanding," Gary Loman said.

Also on the scene was Geoff Coon, an electrical contractor who had come to work on Morton's house. Coon shut off the gas flow to the Lomans' home, Morton said.

"That was a smart move," Morton said.

The fire spread quickly, he said.

"I've never seen a house on fire like that before. No, never," Morton said. "It was pretty intense. It was pretty scary, actually, how fast it went up. The fire department says in houses, that's why you've got to get out of the house so fast. I can see why they say that. The house burned up in no time flat."

The neighbors were out in force partly because the children's school bus pulled up when the house was burning, Glynn said.

"There were probably 15 to 20 neighbors out there at that point in time, mostly keeping the kids from getting hurt," he said.

Klinger said the cause is still unknown but that Routt County Sheriff's Office, fire department and insurance officials would be on the scene to investigate today. Klinger said it was not arson.

"There was a piece of electrical equipment in the garage," he said Wednesday. "We're looking at that as being probably the source. Until we get in there tomorrow and it's all cooled down, we won't be able to tell for sure."

Glynn said he was impressed by how his neighbors rallied to help the Lomans.

"It was a great display of community caring," he said.