Observant and quick thinking neighbors may have helped prevent what could have been a very damaging fire in Lake Wales Friday evening.

A little after 6 p.m., Mark Wyrosdick noticed his neighbor’s house at 960 South Lakeshore Blvd. was in the beginning stages of a fire. After seeing and smelling smoke, Wyrosdick yelled to his daughter, 12-year-old Ronni Moseley, to call 911. While waiting for fire trucks to arrive, family member Bill Martin used a garden hose to keep the fire at bay.