A woman was in tears after coming home to find five of her dogs were involved in a fire.
Josh Cropper, 29, helped to rescue the dogs from the house on Milton Street in Southport on Sunday after seeing smoke billowing into the sky. No one was inside the property at the time of the blaze, but Josh helped to free the Yorkshire terriers by kicking the front door down before fire crews arrived.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said three fire engines were sent to the scene at 6.03pm. On arrival, firefighters found the ground floor of the two storey house involved in the fire and heavily smoke logged.
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Josh told the ECHO: "I just drove down to the house and I came across all the smoke. No one was doing anything. My adrenaline kicked in.
"I asked if anyone was inside and a neighbour said no but there's five small dogs in the property. I opened the gate and kicked the front door in.
"As soon as I kicked that in, this plume of black smoke came flying out. There was another fella with me who was trying to shout the dogs.
"Three of [the dogs] came running out straight away - they were relieved and two of them shot up the street, they were scared."
Josh said he used a brick to smash the front window to let some of the smoke out of the property. He then jumped over a neighbour's wall to access the back yard and used a hose to start extinguishing the flames.
Josh said: "It went out pretty quick to be fair. It was more or less out when the fire brigade turned up.
"The house owner was in a state of shock. She came back to fire engines and three police cars. The whole street was out. She was crying and screaming.
"About 20 minutes later, a girl and boy came walking up the street with a dog in their arms saying 'is this dog from here? It's just been hit by a car.'
"It was OK, it was just shaking. I don't know if it had any broken bones. I just said to the guy you're going to have to take it to the vets."
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said it is believed the fire started in the back yard and spread from there to the house.
A fire service spokesperson said: "Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property with two hose reel jets. The fire had been extinguished by 6.17pm.
"No persons were involved in the fire, however five dogs had been released from the property prior to MFRS arriving. It is believed the fire started in the rear yard of the property and spread to the property.
"Fire crews left the scene at 6.51pm, with the incident handed over to Merseyside Police."
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