Richard Smith said he just did what he had to.

"Once you get past opening the door and going in, you just have to do what you can do," the local taxi driver said. "You see the smoke coming from the building and you know the people are in there."

Smith, public works employees Denny Ilgen and Gary Page, and local church organist Wesley Lipschultz were all in the neighborhood of 500 E. Beaver Ave. early on April 24, when the flames and smoke began to billow from the third floor of the house.

Penn State student Christopher Raspanti died in those flames, but those four individuals helped evacuate his fellow housemates.

And because their actions probably saved lives that day, officials will honor the reluctant heroes before Monday's State College Borough Council meeting.

"I think they did what we hope any good citizen would do," State College Mayor Bill Welch said. "There's no question they saved lives doing what they did, no doubt at some risk to their own."

Page said he and Ilgen were on sanitation duty Sunday morning when they saw smoke coming from the sides of the building and under the eaves.

"Basically, before we even got out of the truck, I called the 911 center and told them they had a structure fire," Page said. "At that point, I knew we had to make sure there wasn't anyone in there and if there was, make sure they got out."

Smith said he was driving down Hetzel Street when he saw the smoke.

"As I pulled over, I realized no one was awake," he said. "There were a few locked doors and we started beating on doors and yelling."

Page, a 15-year Boalsburg volunteer firefighter, said judged the fire to be "at a pretty serious point." Residents needed to be evacuated, he said.

"It was instinct," Page said. "I hope that anyone passing by would have done the same, to make sure everyone got out, that no one was hurt," he said.

But while Page and the others have downplayed their actions, Raspanti's friend Kate McCormick said their quick response was brave.

"I feel that [their actions] were great," she said. "I'm sure it could have been worse."

Public Works Director Mark Whitfield said the public works department is "very proud" of its employees' bravery.

"A lot of people don't know that first responders at the Oklahoma City bombing were public works employees," he said. "Because [public employees] are out and about all the time, ... whenever they have the opportunity to rise to the occasion, they seem to do that."

Officials are still investigating the blaze, but State College Police Sgt. John Gardner said no new information has been released and the cause is still unknown.