We had just said goodbye to a guest at her car, and walked back to the house. We opened the door and all the smoke alarms were sounding off. There was heavy smoke evident. We thought that our cat was caught in the room that was on fire, so attempted to get past the shut door. The smoke was too heavy, but the cat was elsewhere anyway.
We called the fire department and went outside. A casement window in the burning bedroom broke out and flames were shooting out from this space. I got the garden house and climbed on top of a flower box, arching the water into the broken window. This suppressed the flames.
The fire department soon arrived and two men went inside and doused the fire, later breaking the two picture windows to allow smoke to vent. Smoke damage was extensive, although not much was actually burned.