DURHAM - Blake Brinkley thought the house fire he saw Thursday afternoon was both amazing and scary. Still, it was the 10-year-old's actions that helped save the residence from further damage.

Blake and a friend were playing cards on his home porch in northeast Durham County when he noticed black smoke coming from 3110 Swing Road about 2:20 p.m. Blake's mother, Sheri Jackson, drove Blake to the home, where they saw flames coming from the back of the residence.

While she was on the phone with emergency dispatchers, Jackson said, a power line connecting to the home made a "pop" sound and fell to the ground, causing a tree and nearby grass to catch fire. After backing her vehicle out of the driveway, Jackson said she heard a loud explosion. Flames shot into the air.

"I didn't know what it was," said Jackson, 29. "I thought it was a propane tank from a gas grill. I just ran and made sure the kids were in that truck."

Firefighters said no one was home at the time. The homeowner lives by herself and is often seen doing yard work, Jackson said. No one was injured as firefighters from departments including Durham, Redwood and Bahama put out the flames within minutes. Fire investigators have not determined what caused the blaze.

Blake, who said the tree that caught fire fell to the ground, was impressed by how quickly firefighters responded.

"It was amazing because I'd never seen anything like that before, and it was cool to see the real thing done in real life," he said. "But the terrifying thing is that the woman had to go through this, and that was really dangerous for the firefighters."

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