A Pittsylvania County woman is recovering after her home caught fire early Monday morning. Firefighters say when they got to the house on Green Pond Road - the roof had already collapsed on one side.

The family says they lost everything.  But they're grateful to be alive thanks to some firefighters who risked their own lives to save a complete stranger. Ashley Thompson woke up to a nightmare. Her mother shaking her, telling her to get up, telling her, their home was on fire.

Ashley Thompson, Escaped Fire - "She had woke me up the first time but I didn't hear it because I thought she was just calling me to get up in the morning to get ready for work. But she was telling me it was a fire."

Ashley escaped but her mom was still trapped inside.

Thompson - "I opened the window up and I pushed the screen out and I climbed out the window and I thought she was coming up behind me but she wasn't."

She ran over to her neighbors, and dialed 911. 25 Firefighters and 10 trucks quickly arrived.  Two of them went above and beyond, going inside the burning house to help save Ashley's mom. With his wife in the back of his mind -- firefighter Elliott Maurakis decided to go in.

Elliott Maurakis, Firefighter - "It's hard to put it into words, it's just so much ran together so fast. I know we didn't have much time the way the fire was progressing through the house. It was a split second decision."

But the firefighters weren't the only heroes. Ashley says her mom helped save a life too.

Thompson - "She came back in just to rescue me. She risked her life for me, and I love her."

It took firefighters from four departments--Climax, Chatham, Gretna and Cal-lands nearly two minutes to pull the woman to safety... and an hour to get the fire under control. Family members tell us the woman was burned in several places, her face, neck and arms but that the injuries are not critical.