Klafke said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Police did not confirm the identities of the family in the home, but did confirm the age of the older woman.

Kurt Zuelsdorf and his wife, Carol, live in Florida and are in town to visit her father, Don Salzman, to celebrate his 90th birthday, which was Saturday. Carol Zuelsdorf was born and raised in Portage.

Kurt Zuelsdorf said in the heat of the moment, all attention turned to helping those two women and that he was just glad he was there at the right time to be able to help.

He said if someone hadn’t immediately ran inside to help, they might not have made it out alive.

The Pardeeville Fire Department, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and Alliant Energy workers assisted Portage police and firefighters at the scene. At least 22 firefighters and six police officers responded. The firefighters formed two attack lines and used three fire engines to battle the blaze.

Simonson said firefighters and police officers did an excellent job containing and extinguishing the fire. He said both departments work well together.

Alliant Energy cut the water and electricity in both damaged houses after the fire was extinguished.