History for Chron

Floyd Lydum, a 20-year-old student from Firth, Idaho, was credited with saving four fellow students from a fire that killed three others at Gault Hall on the University of Idaho campus in Moscow.

The fire, believed to be intentionally set, started in the lounge of Gault Hall and quickly spread to upstairs sleeping quarters.

Lydum used an adjacent building to access the roof of the burning structure. He then used a rope and his bare hands to hoist students to safety.

The fire killed three students and eight others suffered burn injuries, including some of the students Lydum lifted to safety.

Fire Chief Carl Smith said the blaze was a “clear case of arson.”

A folded newspaper clipping in the pocket of a 21-year-old man, about the death of a 73-year-old Spokane man, prompted investigators to question and obtain a confession from the man about his involvement.

Spokane Police were holding Francisco T. Villastrigo, who recently had been discharged from the U.S. Air Force, in connection with the Oct. 17 death of Fred Rudell.

Villastrigo was picked up for a discrepancy with his driver’s license when jailers noticed a Spokane Chronicle story about Rudell’s death in his pocket.

They alerted detectives and Villastrigo later admitted pushing Rudell in an alley and stealing his wallet.