Clearwater Fire and Rescue responded to a house fire on Nokomis Street just before midnight Friday.

Two people inside the two-story home escaped with no injuries. Rebecca Fenton was home when the fire broke out.

"I care for an elderly vet, his bedroom was downstairs he said, ‘Miss Rebecca, the house is on fire.’"

Neighbors say they saw smoke from the home from a distance.

"I noticed a lot of smoke in the air at the place where I work and I had no idea it was coming from the house down the street,” said Kevin Gardner.

Fenton said she ran downstairs to help the elderly veteran.

"He was walking back towards the fire, if he had opened those doors he'd had a backdraft,” Fenton said. “I picked him up, spun him around put him over my shoulders, the backdraft blew through the window and it blew me and Evan down."

Firefighters say what seemed like a backdraft was actually household items exploding in the blaze. The two were not hurt.

This fire marks the second time tragedy has hit the Fenton home.

"I lost my husband tragically,” said Fenton.

Police say Fenton’s husband, Larry, was found dead in the house February of 2008. He had been shot several times. The murder remains unsolved.

"We're 5 and a half, almost six years after my husband's death, if anybody can help with any information, please,” she said.

Firefighters took 20 minutes to bring the blaze under control.

They say the home, built in 1926, was destroyed. Damage estimates reached $100,000.

The blaze began in the back porch's electrical panel.