A firefighter is called to battle a fire at his own home. But, in the end, he says his family lost everything.

Colin and Sheri Allen both had tears running down their faces as they talked about hearing their own home called out over Colin's pager.

"This is how we heated our house," Colin says as he shows us an old wood heater attached just outside his bedroom. It's the place he says the fire started.

His mobile home is still standing, but everything inside of it is covered in soot and damaged by smoke.

"There isn’t anything in there for us," he says.

On Monday, Colin and his wife were 30 miles from their Dunn County home when the call for Ridgeland-Wilson firefighters went out.

"I heard my pager go off and they said (it was in my) trailer court with an outside wood stove and my trailer is the only one with an outside stove," Colin says fighting back tears.

"I kept praying all the way here that our house was alright. It was hard to come around the corner and see that it was... that all the windows were broken and smoke was coming out of them," Sheri says.

Sheri says she knew her kids were OK because they were at school. She says it was a quick-thinking neighbor who saved her 11-year-old daughter's dog. Her husband hurried to help.

“It was a firefighter's job; a duty to do whether it's my house or someone else's,” Colin tells us.

Colin joined the Ridgeland-Wilson fire department just a couple years ago. He says he wanted to help his community. In that time he's fought 15 or 20 fires, but he says nothing compares to having to fight one at your own home.

"I see it often enough and it's a sight I don't like to see. Being a firefighter myself, it's hard fighting a fire at your own house because you see your livelihood gone," Colon says.

He says it took about two hours to put out the fire. After that, the firefighter battled his own emotions.

"My house is gone,” Colin says choking up. “We have to pick ourselves up and move on."

Colin and Sheri say about a week and a half ago they realized that their home-owners insurance had expired. For now they're staying with family.

If you'd like to help them out. There' s a fund set up at Security Bank in Ridgeland. You can mail any donations to:

Colin & Sharon Allen
Benefit Fund
P.O. Box 156
Ridgeland, WI 54763