COEUR d'ALENE - A 12-year-old boy saved the two family dogs when a fire broke out in his home Wednesday afternoon.

The Woodland Middle School student was home alone sick when the fire started in 2700 block of Wilbur Avenue in the Sunshine Meadows neighborhood.

The boy, who was not injured, heard the smoke detector go off and found the fire in the bedroom. He grabbed some shorts, found the family's two small dogs and darted out of the house. He called 911.

"He did exactly as he was told," said Trish Reynolds, the boy's grandmother. "It's just a house. We got the precious stuff out."

The two dogs, a rat terrier named Mr. Jones and a Yorkshire terrier named Jackson, were not injured. Neighbors were sheltering the dogs after the fire Wednesday.

Coeur d'Alene fire investigators said the boy's bedroom and an adjacent office sustained serious fire damage, along with an attic space above them. The entire home was damaged by smoke.

Reynolds said three people live in the home full time and some others part time.

More than 20 firefighters responded to the blaze from the city fire department, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, and Northern Lakes Fire District.

An investigation into the cause of the fire continues.