BONNERS FERRY — A Porthill man was severely injured in a house fire on Friday morning.

Between 5:45 and 5:50 a.m., neighbors saw smoke rising from Andrew Durette’s home at 1317 Porthill Loop Road.

Hall Mountain Fire Association, a volunteer fire group of which Durette is a member, was on scene within eight to 12 minutes. Neighbors, however, were on the scene immediately. Durette had managed to get out of the house and was lying unconscious on the porch.

The heat from the fire was so intense that no one was able to reach him. Neighbors were able to get Durette to roll towards them and moved him away to the front yard until Boundary Volunteer Ambulance, the EMS crew, and Life Flight arrived.

Durette was taken to Harborview Medical Burn Center where he has been joined by his mother and stepfather.

Durette hads 40 percent of his body burned, with second and third degree burns, 10 percent of which are severe third degree on his feet, hands, back, and head. He is responding to doctors and family, but has a long recovery ahead of him.

Christine Dodge, Durette’s mother, wants to thank neighbors, firefighters, emergency personnel, and the community. Everybody’s thoughts, prayers, and actions just mean the world to them and to please keep him in their thoughts.

Durette’s entire home was lost, along with two family dogs.

The structure fire was finally contained around 10:30 to 11a.m. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time.

“I just want to compliment Hall Mountain Fire, Boundary Volunteer Ambulance, our medic crew, and life flight. Training came together and partnerships that we’ve already established in the past came together and worked very well,” said Wallace Nyberg, a volunteer firefighter at Hall Mountain, “I couldn’t be happier with our men and women out there that did their jobs correctly.”

Nyberg also wanted to thank neighbors who stepped in to help deploying and running hoses and carrying oxygen and first aid equipment over to the victim until other medical responders arrived.

Porthill resident Dallas Amoth, according to Nyberg, went above and beyond to help Hall Mountain Fire contain the blaze.

Porthill doesn’t have fire hydrants, so firefighters in that area use water tankers to roll in water pumped from local creeks and water sources. The water is then hooked to the fire trucks by way of hoses to fight the fire.

Amoth brought his own water tanker to the scene and saved Hall Mountain several trips for more water.

“He probably took the capacity of two firefighters out of the equation so they could focus on the fire,” said Nyberg.

Hall Mountain is organizing a fundraiser for Durette. For more information, contact Nyberg at hallmountainfire.training@gmail.com