Natalie Neysa Alund

USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

Two roommates safely escaped a fast-moving fire that swept through a two-story home in south Nashville Friday afternoon, destroying it.

The blaze broke out just before noon out at a brick, two-story home at 3456 Cobble Street in the Bradford Hills subdivision.

One of the home's residents, TJ Keith, said he returned home from running errands to see flames and smoke engulfing the downstairs basement.

Keith said he tried to put the fire out himself, but when he realized he could not, he ran upstairs to wake up his roommate, Justin Osbourn. The men, who rent the home, were able to take one of their dogs with them.

"If I had got home 30 seconds later I may not have been able to get him out of the home," Keith said fighting back tears. "The only thing I was thinking about was making sure Justin was out of the house."

A silver female pit bull remains unaccounted for.

Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting through the roof, said spokesman Brian Haas. A short while later, the roof collapsed.

Firefighters worked to prevent neighboring homes from catching fire.

The fire did cause heat damage to the exterior of two adjacent homes. No one inside either of the adjacent homes were injured. The neighboring homes remain inhabitable.

Smoke could be seen billowing miles from the subdivision where homes are built close together. Neighbors and passerbys stood on their lawn watching firefighters put out the blaze. Some were crying.

Kenney Snipes, 68, lives in one of the homes that suffered heat damage to its side said he was home when the fire broke out.

Snipes, who works night shifts, said he was sleeping when he heard loud noises outside.

He said he had to hose down a fence that separates his property from home that was destroyed.

"It went up quick, but thankfully nobody was hurt," said 34-year-old John Benson, who lives directly across the street from the home that was destroyed and was home when the blaze broke out.

The cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation.