A neighbor's quick action helped curtail damage to a house in Ypsilanti Township after a shorted extension cord caught drapes on fire Sunday afternoon.

A woman and her daughter heard smoke detectors going off about 2:15 p.m. in the house in the 900 block of Maplewood Avenue and saw the drapes had caught on fire, said Capt. Vic Chevrette of the Ypsilanti Township Fire Department.

They ran out, called 911 and alerted their neighbor, who ran next door with a fire extinguisher and put out the flames, Chevrette said. The drapes were still smoldering when firefighters arrived shortly after.

Damage was estimated at about $5,000. The Red Cross provided the woman and her daughter with food and shelter, and the Humane Society of Huron Valley is sheltering their cat until they can reoccupy the house.