An Iowa firefighter was at work Saturday morning when a fire engulfed his home and destroyed it, authorities said.

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Lt. Gerrit Foreman, of the Clive Fire Department, lost his home but his wife and children were able to escape the blaze, WOI-DT reported.

The two-story home burned to the ground, the television station reported. Foreman was working a shift when the fire occurred.

"He's the first person that will drop anything and come help you," Brian Helland, assistant chief of the Clive Fire Department, told KCCI. "He's done that for years. It's just in his personality and it's who he is."

Clive Fire Chief Rick Roe organized a GoFundMe page for the Foreman family, WOI-DT reported. A $3,000 goal was set, but more than $15,700 had already been raised by Sunday morning