BURTON, MI -- Dorothy Roalez, 82, of Burton didn't know what to do when a pipe burst in her home on a Friday night several weeks ago.

"I called plumbers and they wouldn't come out unless I had the money right up front," Roalez said. "I told them it was a weekend – I didn't have no money on me."

Desperate, and after hearing water pour into her basement all day Saturday, Feb. 1, Roalez decided to call 911 to have someone shut off the water.

"I was panicky because I couldn't stop it. I didn't know where to stop it. I didn't know where the cutoff valve was," she said.

Burton police officers Don Schreiber and Sean Nelson arrived at her home Sunday morning and shut off the water.

"I know where (the valves) are now," Roalez said, laughing. "I made them show me."

But for Schreiber, stopping the water from gushing into the woman's home just didn't feel like enough.

"She said she'd lost her husband and her son a few years back and she didn't have anybody to help her," he said. "She said she was wanting to go to the bank to see if she could get a loan to help repair the pipes, and I'm thinking that's just not – I just wanted to help."

He called his friend, Burton firefighter Phil Howell, to go back to Roalez's home with him that afternoon when he got off his shift. The two planned to replace the pipe.

"She was apprehensive at first, like she didn't want to open the door. I wasn't in uniform, so I don't think she recognized me at first," Schreiber said. "But when she did, she was very surprised, very happy."

The two took down a list of supplies and measurements Sunday and headed to Lowe's Monday – since the store closes early Sundays – and finished the job.

Schrieber wouldn't say how much money was spent on supplies. He didn't want Roalez to find out the cost because she'd already tried to pay him.

"It really wasn't that big of a project," he said, adding that he and Howell weren't looking for any accolades. "It was an opportunity to help somebody that needed help. It was just the right thing to do."

But for Roalez, it meant much more than that.

"I called 'em my guardian angels," she said.

Schreiber said he's been meaning to stop by Roalez's home again.

"After we got done, she said, 'Make sure you walk through the house with blinders on. I don't want you to have to fix anything else,'" Schreiber said, laughing. "She's a sweet lady."