(Radio Iowa) – Estherville’s fire chief is praising four men for a daring rescue from a locked apartment in a burning building.

A fire was reported Monday night in Estherville at the Country View Apartments and emergency responders rushed to evacuate several elderly and disabled residents A firefighter from Wallingford and a deputy sheriff could hear someone inside an apartment, behind a locked door. An Estherville policeman and a businessman from across the street who ran to help joined the two other men in getting the person out of their apartment.

Estherville fire. (Estherville FD photo)

Estherville’s fire chief says the four men encountered heavy smoke and flames above their heads as they saved someone they didn’t know. The apartment’s resident was taken to a local hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.