A 10-year-old boy climbed into his neighbor’s apartment to prevent a potentially serious fire Saturday afternoon.

When firefighters arrived at an apartment on the 6800 block of Phelps Avenue, they learned the fire had already been put out by a boy living in the apartment below it, Santa Barbara County Fire Dept. spokeswoman Jan Purkett said. Firefighters learned that the boy had climbed from his balcony to the balcony of the upstairs apartment, entered through an open window and took burning food off of the stovetop.

Purkett said that although other residents of the building had heard the smoke alarm and had called the fire department, the boy’s actions saved the building from catching fire.

When the firefighters arrived at approximately 4:30 p.m., smoke from the extinguished fire was still coming out of the apartment.