SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A plumber jumped into action Tuesday, running into two burning homes to check for people trapped inside before firefighters could arrive.

Richard Harris was repairing a problem at a home on Portugal Way when he saw flames in the house next door. He ran to alert the family inside.

"I'd seen the side of the house on fire, I banged on their door, grabbed the hose," Harris said. "I tried to put out the flames, but it was a garden hose."

He helped get people out of this house, but had no luck putting the flames out. When he saw the second home catch fire, he leaped back into action. He kicked in the door and ran inside the burning building.

"It was on fire pretty bad," Harris said. "Honestly, I would just like somebody to run in my house if it were on fire and I was in there sleeping or unaware of what was going on."

Nobody was home, and Richard made it out safely. When the owners got home, they couldn't believe what Richard had done for them.

Firefighters say the wind played a huge factor in today's fight. At times, they even had to battle the blaze in a defensive move.

Because of how dangerous this fire became, Richard knows he's lucky he wasn't hurt, but says he'd do it again.

"At first, I was a little shaken, a little scared. But then I realized if Superman could do it, I could do it too."

The first home is a total loss and the damage is still being investigated at the second home. Firefighters are trying to determine a cause of the fire.