BOISE, Idaho — A cat was killed and one resident suffered smoke inhalation person after a fire broke out in a downtown Boise apartment building Tuesday night.
The fire was reported at about 7:45 p.m. by a resident who saw heavy smoke coming from one of the apartments in the building at the intersection of West Jefferson and 15th streets. Flames quickly spread, Boise Fire Battalion Chief John Peugh said.
"When [the first firefighters] arrived on scene they had heavy fire showing from the second floor," he said. "And then soon after that they had fire showing from the roof."
Boise Fire said one man inside the burning building was rescued by three onlookers, who kicked down his apartment door and pulled him out. That resident suffered some smoke inhalation, officials said, but did not want to be taken to the hospital.
One of the rescuers was Jimmy Hallyburton, the executive director of the Boise Bicycle Project. He spoke with KTVB on Wednesday, saying he's not a hero, just lucky to have played a part in the rescue.
"For me, I was riding by and I got there at a time when there was no firefighters there and it made sense to go in and see if there was anybody else," Hallyburton said. "And I think that we as people, if we can do things to help and we know we have that ability, we tend to do that."
Everyone else made it safely out of the building.
The second floor of the seven-unit building is badly burned, and the lower units have smoke and water damage. The Red Cross and Boise Burnout Fund are assisting displaced residents.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but fire officials say they responded to a blaze in the same building just weeks ago. That fire, on April 12, was contained to a single second-floor apartment.
An investigation into that earlier fire is also ongoing.