It's something everyone fears - a fire starting in your home, threatening the people you love, and the things you own.

It happened to one Eau Claire County family Tuesday.

But because of a neighbor, everyone made it out safely.

A fire ripped through the mobile home next door to Robert Crusing's Eau Claire home Tuesday afternoon.

Little did he know, he'd become a neighborhood hero.

Smoke filled the Pine Edge neighborhood in Eau Claire County.

Around noon, firefighters arrived to find the home on lot 39 engulfed in flames and worried neighbors streaming outside.

"The flames were pretty wild," said Robert Crusing, who lives next door.

Robert Crusing lives in the mobile home next door.

The second-shift hotel worker was sleeping when the blaze began.

"I was woken up, my fiancee had said get up, the neighbor's trailer is on fire," Crusing said. "So I got up, came outside, and saw the neighbor lady running around the house."

Instantly, Crusing says he knew what he had to do.

"I didn't get to think about any consequences, I just knew she needed help, so I went in and helped," Crusing said.

He helped his neighbor and her cats to safety, but one more pet was inside.

"The fire was coming down the hallway," Crusing said. "The third cat was under the bed. So I told her, we've got to get the cat and get out."

Firefighters say the flames fire started near the back of the home, and moved quickly.

Crusing witnessed this first-hand.

"I said if we stay in here any longer we're gonna get trapped and have to go out the window," Crusing said.

It took 25 Township firefighters to put out the flames.

And now, firefighters say the home is a complete loss.

"The structure of the trailer holds the heat in," said Mark Briski, Township Fire Department spokesman. "It's very difficult to put out a trailer fire because of how quickly the fire can go up."

But thanks in part to the help of one local hero, everyone is OK.

"This is a tight-knit community," Crusing said. "We help each other out."

Now it's up to the family, with the help of this small community, to pick up the pieces.

Crusing and other neighbors say they're already planning a drive for the family, to collect furniture, silver ware and anything else they can spare to help.

If you'd like to help the family, RCU has set up a benefit fund for the family under the name "The Trish and Richard Asp Family."

Township firefighters are still investigating how the fire started.