A man was seriously injured when fire swept through his Birmingham home Monday.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service responded about 11:30 a.m. to a home in the 900 block of 51st Street on a report of a person trapped in a house fire.

Witnesses and authorities said the man and his wife both safely escaped the blaze, but then the man went back inside for unknown reasons. He did not come back out.

A team of firefighters rushed into the house and rescued the man.

He was taken to UAB Hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.

Several firefighters were checked out by paramedics on the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.