John Baum heard a bang on his front door Monday afternoon and realized that it was his sister-in-law yelling that her house was on fire.

Elke Baum, 68, a longtime resident of Durbeck Road, evidently fell asleep while cooking. She awoke to a house full of smoke. Her phone was not working, so she ran next door to get help.

She was taken to the hospital by ambulance for burns on her hands, her brother-in-law said.

Firefighter Charles Williams rescued a 4-year-old cat in a bedroom by crawling through the smoke toward the animal’s cries.

Once he got the cat outside, he administered oxygen in the driveway until Rockland animal control personnel arrived to care for it.

Baum said his sister-in-law was so worried about the cat that he attempted to get into the house before firefighters arrived. He tried entering through the front door, which was spewing black smoke.

“I couldn’t get in. I had to back up,” he said.

Thick, black smoke was pouring from the two-story home when firefighters arrived.

Fire Chief Scott Duffey said the fire started on the stovetop and spread to the kitchen cabinets.

Firefighters “did a tremendous job getting it under control in less than 10 minutes,” the chief said.

The home sustained extensive heat and smoke damage and is uninhabitable, Duffey said. The damage was estimated at more than $100,000.

Marie Erwin, who lives directly across the street from Elke Baum, said she has known the family for more than 30 years. She appeared shaken as she spoke about her friend.

“Thank goodness for that firefighter,” she said, referring to Williams. “She would have been heartbroken over the cat.”

The Abington and Hanover fire departments sent engines to the scene.