BOISE -- Investigators say a cigarette sparked a fire that destroyed a four-plex in downtown Boise Wednesday afternoon. The cigarette ignited a sofa that was on the porch of a lower unit, which was below a wooden balcony.
Fire raced through a four-plex building at 623 Ash Street around 2:30 p.m.
One man had to jump from a second-story balcony, while another escaped out a first floor window.
Everyone was out of the apartment by the time firefighters arrived on scene. One man was taken to the hospital with burns on his arm.
Crews quickly began knocking out windows, spraying down flames and climbing into second story windows. It took them about 20 minutes to get the fire under control.
"It went up very fast. Crews did an excellent job, and arrived and knocked it down from the outside then went in. Of course, the heat and having multiple units on fire was a big challenge for them," said Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan.
This fire required a lot of help from the Boise Fire Department with a total of 13 fire units on scene including safety and command staff.
All four units in the building were damaged -- three of them heavily.
The Boise Fire Burnout Fund and the American Red Cross are assisting residents that lived in three of the burned out units. The resident of the fourth unit has not yet been located.
