LIMESTONE COUNTY (December 7, 2010)--A Limestone County sheriff's deputy who was on patrol Tuesday morning spotted a fire and helped a woman rescue her disabled son from the burning house.

Authorities originally said Deputy Charles Fabian rescued an elderly disabled man, but Tuesday afternoon said the man the deputy helped save was 33.

The man’s mother, Diane Gonzalez, was returning home from taking one of her pets to the veterinarian at about 10 a.m. Tuesday when she saw a fire on the porch as she drove into the driveway.

A Limestone County sheriff's deputy who happened to be patrolling along Limestone County Rd. 656 also spotted the fire and stopped to investigate.

Gonzales told the deputy her disabled son was asleep inside the house.

The two ran inside, grabbed the sleeping man and carried him to safety.

By the time firefighters arrived, the home at 2764 LCR 656 was engulfed in flames.

The house was a total loss.

Gonzales said she lost a dog and two cats in the fire, but said if the deputy hadn’t stopped, she might not have been able to rescue her son by herself.

Firefighters were dispatched to the address again just after noon Tuesday because the fire had rekindled.

American Red Cross volunteers were offering help to the family while neighbors provided clothing and food local doctors replenished the family's medication, which was destroyed in the fire.

Gonzales and her son will spend the night with Gonzales' daughter, who lives nearby.

She told firefighters she believes the fire started on the front porch in a doghouse where she had left a heat lamp on to help ward off the cold for her dog.

Firefighters from Thornton, Groesbeck, West Lake and Kosse responded to the fire Tuesday.