WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A keen eye and quick action by a neighbor likely saved the lives of a family’s pets and prevented a kitchen fire from completely engulfing a home on a wooded side street Sunday morning.

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish a first-alarm fire that began in the kitchen of a double-wide manufactured home from which two dogs and two cats were rescued on Lily Pond Road, the Hartford Fire Department said in a news release.

“They were here in four minutes,” the owner of the home, Shari Therriault, said, praising the rapid response by Hartford firefighters.

Still, the fire rendered uninhabitable the home that she’s shared with her husband, James, for 36 years.

Shari Therriault recounted the trauma of the prior day’s home fire on Monday from the porch of her aunt and cousin’s home at the corner of Lily Pond Road and Sykes Mountain Avenue, next door to Therriault and her husband’s own place. Her parents and daughter also are neighbors.

Therriault said she and her husband went to her parents’ house at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and were there for about 30 minutes when a neighbor frantically knocked on the door to report he had seen smoke and a “flickering” through the window of the Therriaults’ home.

Therriault’s husband and father were in the cellar when the alert came.

“I hollered for them to come up. I ran outside; there was a lot of very black smoke,” Shari Therriault said.

The neighbor called 911 and entered the Therriault’s home and was able to help their dog Jaxson and cat Gracie escape before firefighters arrived, Therriault said.

But he was unable to locate their other dog, Lucy, and another cat, Deliah. Those animals were rescued by firefighters. Deliah was found underneath a cabinet in the living room, and Lucy — who twice tried to escape from the firefighters and make her way back inside the house — was “covered in gray soot,” said Doris Jacobs, Shari Therriault’s mother.

Hartford fire officials said they are still investigating the origin of the fire, but Shari Therriault said it looks like it might have been started by the microwave because “there’s no microwave left.”

She had used the microwave earlier that morning “for a total of two minutes” to warm up heating pads for her neck but otherwise the electronic oven was not in use at the time, Shari Therriault said.

The corner of Sykes Mountain Avenue and Lily Pond Road in White River Junction is sometimes referred to as “Jacobs’ Corner” for the congregation of Jacobs family members who all live within shouting distance of each other.

Doris Jacobs and her husband — Shari Therriault’s father — Leon “Jake” Jacobs, have been married 65 years and have lived in their Sykes Mountain Avenue home for 63 years. It is the home in which Jake Jacobs grew up.

On Monday, yellow police line tape in an “X” shape crossed the doors into the Therriault’s home.

Although the fire did not spread beyond the kitchen, Shari Therriault said there was extensive smoke and water damage.

Firefighters had to smash out an skylight in the kitchen to vent smoke, and the couple are not allowed back inside until after the insurance adjuster inspector completes an assessment.

Hartford firefighters were assisted at the scene by fire crews from Hanover and Lebanon.

On Monday, after getting checked out by the veterinarian, Lucy and Jaxson were back with the Therriaults, but cats Gracie and Deliah were still receiving treatment for smoke inhalation at SAVES in Lebanon.

“Hopefully we’ll get them back this afternoon,” Shari Therriault said.

With family members all neighbors, the Therriaults will have a place to stay until they can re-establish a permanent residence. Shari Therriault said they plan to move their camper over into her daughter’s yard and temporarily live there.

Shari Therriault, 57, and her daughter, Hailley Sherman, just took over commercial printer Budget Print, located at Glen Road Plaza in West Lebanon, last month.

Shari’s husband, James Therriault, 55, is an inspector at Creare in Hanover.

Lucy, who was inside the home longer, appeared a little tired on Monday from the ordeal, Shari Therriault said.

“We garden hosed Lucy at our daughter’s. She’s still pretty dingy. She’ll need another bath. I’m just letting her rest today,” Therriault said.

The dogs appeared to be taking things in stride although the cats might be having a harder time of it, Shari Therriault suspects.

“The dogs go with us wherever we go. If we are there, they are OK,” she said. “The cats are probably quite confused.”

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.