Cigarette causes Masonry Center fire in Boise

BOISE, Idaho (CBS 2) — The Masonry Center in Boise caught fire after someone improperly disposed of a cigarette.

Boise Fire says a call came in of smoke and flames at 6:25 p.m. at the Masonry Center on the 1400 block of Orchard Street.

Upon arrival, Boise Fire says it upgraded to a working fire calling in additional resources.

About 28 firefighters worked to knock down the fire quickly. Ada County Paramedics were on scene to assist in medical monitoring due to the heat.

Masonry Center President Brian Atkinson says thankfully no one was in the building at the time.

"It's discouraging we had just put a heavy effort into getting out sample inventory replenished. It's certainly going to be painful as far as being able to take the product out in the marketplace but we're a strong company with strong poise and we're excited to have to opportunity to rebuild," Atkinson said.

The detached storage housed brick, tile and stone samples for the distribution company.

Being in close proximity, Atkinson says they were able to help replenish the firefighters with water and air conditioning while they fought for their building.

Boise Fire Battalion Chief Tom Moore says heat challenged firefighters in this fire. But with additional resources, they were able to rotate them out.

"Anytime it gets this hot out as we all know it drains your energy a lot faster especially when you're working hard wearing that equipment that we wear. It speeds up everything."

Boise Fire investigators are on scene to determine what caused this fire.

Orchard Street south of Fairview is back open.

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