It was late at night when Terri Vineyard and her family returned home last week from a trip to Tacoma, Wash.

With three young children in tow, Vineyard and her husband, Charles Lane, quickly realized something was wrong.

The windows of their home were opened; the inside smelled like smoke.

But there were no flames and the home was still standing. They later learned that was because of the heroic act of their neighbor Phil Brown.

If it wasnt for Phil Brown, everything we own and the rest of the building would have burned to the ground, Vineyard said. We would have come home to ashes and bones.

Damaged

The laundry room of the familys Emerald Heights Apartment caught on fire Thursday afternoon. The laundry room is damaged and currently unusable, but because of Browns quick actions to get inside, find the fire extinguisher and put the flames out, there was no further destruction. The family owns therapy cats for their son who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Vineyard said. The cats were home while the family was away.

Brown said he came home and saw a couple of neighbors standing across the street, while smoke was coming out of the back of the apartment. He asked the neighbors what was going on, and they told him: a fire in the laundry room.

It all happened so quickly, Brown said. I knew I could put it out. There was a lot of smoke, but not that many flames, it didnt seem like it anyway. So if I could do something, I was going to. That apartment has a soft spot in my heart.

Brown has been a resident of Emerald Heights for eight years the first five in the unit above 20 Nimitz Drive where the fire occurred. His wife died from cancer in that apartment. He now lives across the street at 21 Nimitz Drive.

I just did what I had to do, what I could do, before the fire department got there, he said. It was a blessing I was able to knock down the flames when I did, because I think it saved a lot of peoples apartments.

Mistake

The cause of the fire was a result of a neighbor cleaning out a fireplace, and placing smoldering ash in a cardboard box, Vineyard said. That box was then placed at the laundry room door shared by the tenants. Everyone makes mistakes, Vineyard said.

Astoria Fire Chief Ted Ames confirmed that report, noting that a resident had emptied fireplace ashes into the box without realizing there was still quite a bit of heat left and that started the fire.

Phil is a very nice man and he keeps an eye on us, Vineyard said. He was driving home and saw the smoke, he came across the street, and took the lead. He said, OK, lets try to stop this, and he did.

Brown got into the home through a back door and found a fire extinguisher to put the flames out. The Astoria Fire Department took care of the rest.

Vineyard and her family gave Brown gift certificates to Video Horizons and Burger King for his actions. It wasnt much, but it was all I could do, Vineyard said. He said I didnt have to do this, but if I had the ability, I would do it every day. Not everyone would have done what he did. We could have lost everything.

Vineyard joked that it will be an interesting Thanksgiving, washing the table linens in the bathtub until the laundry room is repaired. But she is thankful that she has table linens and a home to have Thanksgiving in this year. Reminding herself how much worse it could have been, she said, makes her extremely grateful.

Everything we own is in this house. Our life could have been leveled, she said. If he hadnt crossed the street, this would be a completely different story.