When Jim and Roxanne Nagel saw smoke coming from a home a quarter mile from theirs, Roxanne thought they should stop by and see if they could help, her husband said.

Jim Nagel said Roxanne remembered seeing an older woman at the house at 6800 71st Ave. NE. So, they stopped to see if they could do anything.

Nagel said they tried to assist Ruth Swenson, 83, in putting out the fire in her bedroom Saturday afternoon, but it was apparent the job was too big for them. They convinced Swenson to leave the house.

"She was kind of bound and determined to stay in there," Nagel said.

Once they got her out, Nagel tried to go back in to get her a pair of shoes. Finding none, he found her a towel to wrap her feet in until Burleigh County sheriff's deputies arrived and had her sit in a squad car.

Bismarck Rural Fire Chief Al Klein said fire officials believe the fire, which was called in to dispatchers at 5:37 p.m. Saturday, was started by a cigarette accidentally dropped on some wrapping paper in the bedroom of the home.

Swenson told firefighters she had been in the room wrapping presents and smoking, then later saw the bed on fire, Klein said.

Because a bedroom door had been shut, the fire was contained to that room, he said.

"The bedroom was gutted," he said, noting the rest of the house had heat and smoke damage.

Klein said Swenson refused Red Cross help as she had somewhere else to stay.

- Jenny Michael