Passerby alerts residents to fire

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Residents in downtown Albuquerque say a passerby helped alert them to a fire - right behind their homes.

Maria Ybarra woke up to a ruckus Sunday morning.

"They were honking their horns and somebody else was banging on doors," Ybarra said. "So then as soon as they got our attention we went and banged on the neighbors' doors."

Shortly after 7:30 a.m., a passerby noticed flames shooting from a pile of rubble at 1st St. and Haines Ave. The fire was spreading, and was close to Ybarra's home.

"They're just separated by the fence, so yeah, it was right behind us," Ybarra said.

That good Samaritan not only woke up Ybarra and her family, he also called 911.

AFD officials say the fire spread from a pile of rubble to a storage shed at Lewis Brake and Clutch Inc. It also spread to a tree in Ybarra's neighbor's yard. Firefighters had a difficult time attacking the flames.

"The challenge with this fire primarily was access to it. It's a very confined lot, and there are chain link fences and buildings quite close," TUF-Capt. Jackie White said.

Streets were blocked off. Smoke could be seen from I-40 billowing up an hour after it was called in. But AFD kept the fire from spreading to any homes.

Efrain Ochoa said the good Samaritan and AFD kept this fire from becoming a tragedy for his family at the holidays.

"It's a good thing somebody drove by here when they did, you know," Ochoa said.

No one was injured in the fire.

The cause of this fire is still under investigation.