SANDPOINT - A smoke alarm and a local couple are credited with a quick response to a fire - minimizing what would likely have been a much more catastrophic event.

Steve and Grace Brixen were quietly eating dinner in the backyard of their south Sandpoint home Saturday evening when Grace began hearing a repetitive sound like an alarm clock coming from the direction of the house of their neighbor, Ben Baker.

Baker wasn't home.

Curious, Grace went to the back of the house to investigate.

"The first thing I noticed was smoke coming out of the window," Grace said.

She alerted Steve, then ran to the front of the house, where she found the front door locked. She peered through a window.

"I saw fire up about 4 feet in the living room," she said. "It's an awful sight to see."

Steve heard Grace shout, "there's flames in the living room!"

While Grace dialed 911, Steve ran to the front door and discovered for himself it was locked. He ran to the back of the house, hoping to find the door unlocked there. It was, but the porch was filled with acrid, gray-colored smoke.

"I opened it and the smoke was so thick I couldn't see anything," he recalled.

He held his breath and tried to feel his way inside, but quickly abandoned the idea. He ran back toward the front of the house that was now spewing smoke from its windows. He grabbed his garden hose, turning on the spigot on the way back to the front door.

At 6-foot-3, 230-pounds, Steve figured he would kick the door in, so he gave it a kick.

"The door never budged," he said with a chuckle. "So much for the Chuck Norris approach."

So he improvised. Grabbing a piece of wood lying nearby, he broke a small section of stained glass in the door, reached in, and unlocked it. With the door now open, he could clearly see the flames through the thick smoke coming from a bag that he later learned contained a laptop computer near the wall.

Steve took a breath, went inside, and hit the flames with the hose. Then he retreated outside, took another breath, and went back in for another squirt at the fire.

His initial thought as he began dousing the flames?

"I felt really bad about getting their house wet," he said.

But the couple's quick action paid off - the fire was extinguished by the time Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS firefighters arrived minutes later.

Meanwhile, unaware of the unfolding drama, Baker, a musician who had been playing at a local benefit, arrived with his fiance, who was texting, about the same time as emergency services.

He turned down the street to find fire apparatus, police and aid cars all staging in front of their smoky house.

"Ah, I think we've got a problem," Baker said.

"But by then the fire was out," he said. "Steve had already done his magic."

That magic was a combination of the proper equipment and a quick response, according to fire officials.

"His quick action and good neighborly deed kept the damage under $1,000," according to firefighter-engineer Clint Frank.

Firefighters checked the house to ensure the fire was contained, and quickly set up fans to clear the smoke.

Frank emphasized the role the operational smoke alarm played in the event. Without the alarm, Grace would not have discovered the fire in its initial stage, and may not have noticed the fire until the house was fully involved, causing considerable damage and leaving the house uninhabitable, its contents destroyed.

"Having a working smoke alarm is extremely important," Frank said. "Steve saved this guy a lot of money."

Not that neighbors should necessarily be running into burning buildings, however.

Sandpoint Fire Chief Ron Stocking noted the most important thing the Brixens did was dial 911.

"We don't ever encourage anybody to put themselves in harm's way," Stocking said. "The best thing that anybody can do for a neighbor, or stranger, or anyone, is to make sure the 911 system is activated before they do anything."

Stocking noted that the department always encourages people to make a difference if they can, particularly if someone's life is in jeopardy, but never if there is risk of personal harm.

It was a serendipitous combination of circumstance and functional technology that allowed the Brixens to react to the fire successfully. They would normally have been inside watching television, according to Grace, and would not have heard the smoke alarm.

"We are grateful we were in the right place at the right time," she said.

Steve expressed considerable humility, at first declining to tell his story before being convinced of the broader social benefit of doing so by reminding people of the value of smoke alarms and the 911 system.

"The best thank you is for the neighbor to give me a hug and say 'thank you,'" Steve said.

Baker was indeed grateful.

"Thank God for your neighbors," he said.

Although unconfirmed, Baker said it appears the fire was caused by spontaneous combustion of the computer battery.