Fargo man dies after overnight fire

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) -- A man is dead after an overnight fire in Fargo. It's believed that blaze started in a kitchen at 4345 10th Avenue South around one this morning.

Just after midnight, Lisa Anderson was getting ready for bed. She smelled something and thought someone was cooking.

LISA: "I went down stairs and the smoke was coming at me, and as soon as I turned the corner all of a sudden it just hit me in the face."

Anderson knew something was very wrong when her eyes began burning from the amount of smoke filling the hallway. She quickly called 9-1-1

LISA: "The fire department came in and when they opened the door all of this smoke came out, they rushed back to the window, I heard them breaking glass."

Not until firefighters put out the blaze did Anderson discover smoke and flames were coming from her friends apartment, 31 year old James Peyton.

LISA: "Somebody said that they had pulled someone out and I just wanted to know is he ok."

Anderson's garage is located right by Peyton's outdoor patio. She says she will miss hearing his friendly hellos every time she comes home.

LISA: "He would visit with anybody, didn't matter if he knew him or not, i mean he was just happy go lucky."

Although Anderson remembers hearing a smoke alarm, fire officials say there was only a limited number of detectors in place and possibly delayed fighting the fire.

CHIEF LEROY: "There were three smoke detectors in the apartment itself and two of them had been removed, one was functional when the crews entered the apartment they could hear it going off, it was in a room that had the door shut."

The building was evacuated until the blaze was out within minutes.

CHIEF LEROY: "All residents were allowed back in, we were able to contain the fire and the damage to that apartment."

While Anderson mourns the loss of a friend, placing flowers next to his door..

LISA: "I don't know where to go now, it is a sad deal, but it is a lesson learned in time to."

Peyton died from smoke inhalation at Essentia. His roommate is without a home.

Tags: danielle miller, reporters, news, city, fire, fargo