Kent Savage walked into Carpetland USA Friday evening as a customer.

He left as an amateur firefighter, working with fellow customers and store employees to fight a ceiling fire that quickly spread down the north side of the building. The flames were reportedly visible from outside.

"We were looking for tile, and I walked toward the desk, and I smelled something. I smelled something burning," Savage said.

The proactive assemblage of customers and employees only numbered half-a-dozen, but they were determined to get the fire out before it got out of control. Mike Elmer, a contractor for Carpetland USA who recently ran for city council, grabbed a fire extinguisher and started spraying while Savage helped.

"We got some of it knocked down, but there was a section we couldn't get to," Savage said.

Burlington Police arrived moments later and helped fight the fire with their own extinguisher. They were soon joined by firefighters from the Burlington Fire Department, who extinguished the remains of the fire in less than five minutes with a water cannon.

Mike Elmer's wife and store employee, Vicki Elmer, said she would have been working alone Friday night, and the timing could have been much worse. The call came in shortly after 4 p.m., and the other store employees were getting ready to leave for the weekend.

"I'm so glad they were here, because if I had been here by myself, I might not have smelled it," Vicki said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.