Thanks to some courageous neighbors, a Rockland woman is lucky to be alive after a fast-moving fire tore through her historic home.

Firefighters say it was around 12:30 p.m. when flames ignited in the garage of her home on Washington Avenue in Pearl River and then spread quickly to the main house. 

The homeowner was inside taking a nap when the fire started.

She says, neighbors kept banging on her door until she woke up and escaped. "I'm feeling like my neighbors are really, really supportive in that people have offered me absolutely everything, from meals, drinks, leashes for my dogs…They call Pearl River the place of friendly people and people here have really, really opened up their hearts to me," says Aline Whitmore.

Investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked the fire. The homeowner says she had been using power tools just before the fire ignited.