Three people were rescued from a burning home in Mount Joy Township early Friday, thanks in part to the call of nature.

The blaze broke out around 3:45 a.m. at 990 Schwanger Road, near Ridge Run Campground, according to Chuck Stanford, chief of Rheems Fire Department.

The home is owned by Samuel and Carolyn Hoffman, state Trooper James DeWalt said. The couple and their daughter, Crystal, 25, were sleeping when the fire started.

A neighbor, Michael Gary, of 4 Parkview Drive, happened to wake up around 3:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom.

"It was unusual because I normally would be in bed asleep at that time," the 40-year-old said. "I believe things happen for a reason."

His dog, Angel, jumped up, too, and also had to relieve herself.

So Gary put on a coat and a hat and took the pit bull out in the cold to the backyard.

"I noticed big clouds of smoke floating down the hill" even though it was dark, he said. He put Angel back inside and went across the street to investigate.

Gary said he thought someone might have been using a wood stove. In the dark, he couldn't tell the Hoffmans' house was on fire until he got closer.

"Then I could hear the popping of the fire," Gary said. "I started beating on the front door, trying to wake people up."

No one responded, so he ran back to his home and called 911.

"In two or three minutes, I came back out and could see flames shooting out the roof," he said. "Luckily, the police came right away."

When Northwest Regional police Officer Charles Tobias arrived, the smoke was so thick that Tobias fell over shrubbery trying to find the front door of the home, police said.

He yelled, "Fire! Fire! Get out!" and pounded on the door and windows to try to alert the occupants.

Eventually, Samuel Hoffman came to the door, disoriented, and Tobias had to prevent him from going back inside, police said.

Tobias alerted Carolyn Hoffman and then her daughter, who were on the second floor, police said. Tobias, after meeting them at the stairs, escorted them through the smoke and outside to safety.

No one was injured in the fire, Stanford said.

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The Hoffmans' next-door neighbor, Marie Keener, said voices and what sounded like a car door banging jarred her from sleep.

"My Venetian blinds were closed, but I could see the whole window had an orangeish-yellow glow," she said. "Flames were leaping up above the burned-out roof" of the Hoffmans' garage.

Firefighters arrived to heavy smoke and a sizable blaze at the single-family home.

"Fire was coming out the roof of the garage and was extending into the house," Stanford said. "It was a challenge due to wind pushing it into the house."

About 40 firefighters brought the blaze under control in about 40 minutes, he said. "The firefighters did an exceptional job."

DeWalt, a fire marshal, determined the cause of the fire: "The homeowner said ashes from a wood stove were put in a garbage can in the attached garage the night before," he said.

Damage was estimated at $120,000 to the house and the garage and $60,000 to contents, DeWalt said.

The garage was heavily damaged, as were two cars and a motorcycle inside it, he said. The fire did not extend far into the home, but firefighters had to cut holes in the roof and walls during the blaze.

"I think the house is salvageable," Stanford said. "Vehicles and other contents in the garage and a storage area above the garage were destroyed."

The Hoffmans were offered aid by the Red Cross, but they planned to stay with relatives or in an apartment they own, he said.

Stanford said the home had a smoke detector but that it did not have a battery.

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Gary worked as a telemarketer for an Erie company before he was laid off because of the depressed economy about six months ago, he said.

He said he was glad that he was in the right place at the right time Friday morning.

"Thank God I did go outside at that time," Gary said. "I feel really bad for them for what happened to their home, but glad that they walked away safely."

Before the fire, he didn't know the Hoffmans and had only seen them in passing.

After the fire, the family thanked Gary, he said. Gary, in turn, lauded the heroic efforts of police and firefighters.

"The officer did an excellent job," Gary said of Tobias. "The response time was phenomenal, and he started getting them out right away."

Tobias was reluctant to take any credit for helping to save the occupants, saying he was only doing his job, police said. He credited Gary with saving the Hoffmans' lives.

Northwest Regional police Chief Sam Gatchell plans to recognize the efforts of Tobias and Gary at a police commission meeting Tuesday night.

"Within another minute or two, it would have been bad news," Gatchell said.

"Gary was alert and went around the side of his building to check it out. If he had not done that, it would have been a different story."

rrobinson@lnpnews.com