Two Indianapolis men were driving to work Monday morning when each was suddenly forced to make a decision: keep on driving or stop and check out the smoke coming out of a duplex.

Jeff Trittipo and Mike Boler not only stopped their cars at the duplex in the 2700 block of Massachusetts Avenue, but they quickly made another decision -- one that might have saved the lives of two other people.

Trittipo and Boler, who didn't know each other, agreed to enter the home and see if anyone was still inside, according to a report by the Indianapolis Fire Department.

One side of the duplex already had been vacated, but a man and a woman remained in the other side, unaware their home was on fire.

Trittipo and Boler roused them -- and their four dogs -- and hustled them outdoors.

"The key is to evacuate," said Boler, who provides in-home care for the elderly, "and these folks just weren't doing it fast enough."

Trittipo then noticed that another house was close enough to the burning duplex to catch fire also. So he and Boler hustled next door.

There they escorted a woman with a walker and two men to safety.

One of the men, who was elderly, had just started dressing. Boler helped him with his trousers, then threw him over his shoulders and carried him out.

"It was a blessing for me and Jeff to be at the right place at the right time," Boler said. "Thank God we had the strength to do something instead of just sitting and watching."

The neighbors' house did not burn, after all, but the duplex was destroyed.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The estimated damage was $80,000.