Residents in a Boise apartment complex are trying to return to a normal life after a fire ripped through a building Saturday afternoon leaving one person dead and multiple families displaced.
The Ada County Coroner has identified the person killed as 45-year-old Wendy Comfort.
"Shock and surprise, we were right down the road and got texted a picture of what was going on so we just headed down here right away," said Arbor Crossing resident Colleen Overby.
The flames raged through the Arbor Crossing Apartments off of State Street. The Boise Fire Department says it was called in just after 1 o'clock. In addition to the one person killed, two adults and one child were also treated on scene and one was taken to local hospital. One firefighter also received minor injuries to his hand. Crews from Meridian and Eagle helped fight the fire, their actions caught on camera by a 6 On Your Side viewer.
"For it to happen this close to the holidays you know, I feel for all the families that are in the building there,” said Anthony Lee who witnessed the fire.
The Boise Fire Department says 12 out of 24 units in the building were involved, 8 of them receiving heavy damage. With no power to the building, Boise Firefighters say all 24 families have been impacted. The Boise Burn Out Fund and the American Red Cross are assisting families with financial help and finding them a place to stay. Residents of the apartment complex who were not affected by the fire are now helping their neighbors as much as they can.
“This has really brought everybody together everybody just kind of helping each other out. Everybody talking seeing what we can do it for each other,” said Overby.
At this time, firefighters don’t know what started the fire; they say it could take days before they finish their investigation.
The Idaho Humane Society tells us a cat who was impacted by the fire received oxygen from first responders and because the family has been displaced the feline is temporarily staying at the shelter.
