"As soon as I got out, my first thought process was to get the dog out of the car," Roscommon County Undersheriff Ed Stern said.

He's thankful to be ok after escaping from a burning SUV. He also saved his partner, a K-9 cop named Yeff.

It happened Friday morning as Stern was driving back to Roscommon after using the dog to find drugs on the side of I-75.

Then two officers driving behind Stern saw flames shooting out from under his SUV.

"The vehicle started acting up, so I was in the process of pulling over when they told me that the vehicle was on fire," Stern said. "So I immediately pulled over and when I got out, the whole thing was on fire, and flames were coming out the driver’s side of the vehicle."

Yeff was in the back seat.

"I opened his door, and the flames and the heat shot up in between me and the dog. He backed up," Stern said. "So I had to reach in, grab him out of the car."

Stern singed some hair in the process, but the two escaped just moments before flames engulfed the SUV.

"And that’s when things took off even more. I just stood back and things were popping and cracking," Stern said.

Fire destroyed the SUV and posed another threat; it had ammunition and a loaded shotgun in it, so the fire department stopped nearby cars. Some drugs used for training Yeff also burned. But Stern is just thankful both got out ok.

"You can replace a vehicle," Stern said. "The day started out well, but it didn’t end well, except neither one of us got hurt."

They don't know yet how the fire started, so Stern's SUV is locked up until a fire marshal can determine what happened and if any foul play was involved.

9 & 10's Jodi Hathaway and photojournalist Joel Deaner have the story.