A community effort helped stop a hedge fire from spreading to nearby homes Monday in Coldstream.

Thomas Yerosic was sitting in his Husband Road backyard on Aug. 5 when he started to smell something and then had embers falling on him.

He rushed outside to see flames and thick black smoke coming dangerously close to some neighbours' homes.

He also saw a group of about five motorcyclists who were putting buckets and hoses on the fire.

"If they weren't there, one, two houses would have burned easily," said Yerosic. "They saved the day - young pups on their souped-up motorcycles."

He and another neighbour, Katie, also jumped into action to assist.

"We fought it, it was bone dry, needles all on the side. It was three feet from the house. We were almost sure the house would burn."

He also calls his neighbour Katie a hero, as she knew the door code to the home and rescued two dogs and a cat from inside.

Lavington and Coldstream firefighters were called to the blaze, which was reported as a structure fire.

"The neighbours did a fantastic job," said Coldstream Fire Chief Fiona Morgenthaler-Code. "We want to say thank you to the 20 or so members of the public who did fast work as a team to knock this down before it became destructive."

The fire destroyed a large hedge and caught the nearby power pole on fire, but the homes were saved.

RCMP and BC Hydro attended and the cause remains under investigation.

The owner was not home at the time of the fire but came by to thank his neighbours the next morning.