Manhattan ? A trio of former Lawrence High School classmates had an unexpected reunion Saturday morning in Manhattan, one that turned out to be a lifesaver for two of them.

Bryan Allen, a Kansas State University sophomore and 2002 LHS graduate, happened to be driving by shortly after 7 a.m. when he saw smoke and flames coming from a Manhattan apartment building.

“I pulled over, called 911 and started knocking on doors,” Allen said. “There was a lot of smoke and fire. I was afraid everybody wasn’t going to get out.”

Unknown to Allen, two other K-State sophomores whom he knew from Lawrence happened to be living in the building. He was surprised when fellow 2002 LHS grad Kerry Frick came to one of the doors.

Allen also knew Frick’s roommate, Kaylee Wempe, another member of the LHS Class of 2002, who at the time was in another apartment in the building.

Frick said she thought Allen had been pounding on her door for some time before she finally woke up. She said she didn’t think she would have awakened in time without him.

“There was smoke in the building,” Frick said. “Everyone got out in their pajamas and boxers.”

While Frick stood outside and watched firefighters, she called her mother, Karen Frick, to tell her about the morning’s events. Later Saturday, Karen Frick, who was in Chicago helping another of her daughters, couldn’t say enough about Allen.

“I just have great gratitude for him,” Karen Frick said. “He saved lives today.”

Mike Heptig, a battalion chief with the Manhattan Fire Department, agreed.

“He helped a lot,” Heptig said of Allen. “I had several occupants tell me they were sleeping, and he woke them up and continued going door to door.”

The Manhattan Fire Department responded to Allen’s call at 7:34 a.m., and it took crews nearly an hour to get the fire under control, Heptig said. Firefighters remained at the scene until about noon.

Estimated damage to contents and structure was about $225,000.

The cause of the fire was undetermined, but investigators are looking at the possibility it originated with smoking material on a sofa on an upper-floor balcony, Heptig said.

Allen said he was assisted by an older man who stopped in a car just in front of him.

“We pounded and pounded on doors,” Allen said, adding that it seemed like it took a long time for some occupants inside to respond. “I think they must have thought I was selling something.”

The smoke in the building was so thick that Wempe, who was in a second-floor apartment, had to exit the hard way — through a window.

“It wasn’t too bad,” she said. “Two guys grabbed my feet and helped me down.”

Firefighters had to help rescue occupants of another apartment by bringing them down ladders, Heptig said.

Saturday afternoon, Frick, Wempe and another roommate, Kendra Kueser, Louisburg sophomore, were allowed back into their apartment to assess the damage. Their apartment was far enough away from the fire that the damage was only from smoke, Frick said. They were given the OK to continue living in the unit.

Allen said he didn’t stick around long after firefighters arrived. He had to walk a short distance to his own apartment complex because fire trucks had blocked his car.