BURTON, S.C. (WSAV) — As a couple fights for their lives in a charleston hospital, a Lowcountry man is being credited with potentially saving the life of at least one of them.

A fire broke out inside a mobile home on Joe Frazier Road in Burton just before 1 a.m. Saturday.

A marine who lived there woke up and was surrounded by smoke. He was able to get out, but his fiance had some trouble. Their neighbor saw what was happening and ran over to pull her to safety.

“She was in critical condition on the scene she as out of the two of them appeared to be worse,” says Burton Fire District (BFD) Cpt. Daniel Byrne. “Every second that she stayed in that house breathing that smoke could have been her last breath so there is no doubt in my mind even if he saved 10-15 seconds pulling her out he could have saved her life.”

The couple remains in the ICU unit at the Medical University of South Carolina. A family dog that was inside the home died.

The two were engaged and gearing up to celebrate their 24th birthdays in the coming weeks.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but firefighters say they believe it was unintentional. BFD says they do not believe the home’s smoke alarms were working.

BFD says this marks the 22nd fire of the year in Burton.