AVOCA -- As most prepare the table for friends and family for Thanksgiving, Joseph Aloe was using his time to reflect.
He tells Newswatch 16 he was playing video games Wednesday evening when he saw something wrong with his neighbor's house.
“From the living room window I saw flickering and I was like is it the fire and I saw the flames in there,” said Aloe.
After calling 911 he realized his neighbor Eugenia Sullivan was still inside the burning home.
Joseph Aloe went to the back of the house smashed in the door. He says the fire was so intense forcing him to crawl to rescue his neighbor.
“I have been in a lot of situations and that was unreal our basic fears are you can’t see, you can’t breathe you have the sounds of the wood cracking and the heat,” said Aloe.
The father of three also suffers from asthma. He pushed through those obstacles and using the flashlight on his phone was able to find his neighbor and her dog.
“They have a little white dog with curly white fur and I could see her tail wagging and he was kissing her face,” said Aloe.
Joe Aloe was able to take the dog out and got back in to rescue his neighbor.
Firefighters arrived and were able to put the fire out.
Both Aloe and Sullivan had to be taken to the hospital but were released at the same time several hours later.
“Especially being Thanksgiving it makes you think you have a lot to be thankful for,” Aloe said.
Thankful for life, family and neighbors who care.