BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) - Residents were forced to evacuate their apartments and stand out in the rain for about three hours Monday night.
The call came in a little after 11 p.m. That's when several residents at Civic Plaza Apartments knew something just wasn't right.
"I smelled something for awhile when I got home about 10:30p.m. and I could smell it because I leave my windows open," said Amanda Bennett who lives in the apartment building.
"You know you could smell something burning, but we just didn't know what. So I said lets get out of here," said Elaine Duke who also lives at Civic Plaza Apartments.
Smoke coming from the 6th floor of the apartment building prompted an on looker to call for help.
"When we got here it appeared to be smoke coming from the roof," said Captain Don Fry with the Boise Fire Department.
The fire department needed to evacuate the building to see where the smoke was coming from. They pulled the fire alarm hoping to get everyone out fast.
Apartment resident Elaine Duke didn't have to be told twice. She jumped into action.
"All we know was the alarm was going off and I woke my nephew up and told him to get dressed and we started going down the back stairs. We could smell the smoke," she said.
Boise Fire said Monday morning the fire started beneath a mechanical room located on the roof. One apartment was damaged,
Residents were forced to wait it out in the pouring rain as fire fighters tried to figure out what was going on.
"When we sent crews to the roof we found some smoke coming from the boiler room," said Captain Fry.
Residents were allowed back into their apartments around 3 a.m.
ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmpaeTlrlwv8yoop5lk5bCtLHSZqmeq5mZsq%2FA0marqGWVq66kwcCtnGaeoqS6brDOsKWtp6ejeqK8wKurpp2eqQ%3D%3D