A Highland Falls police officer is credited with saving 16 people from a fire that destroyed a two-story apartment building early Tuesday morning.

The tenants of the six-unit building at 6 Brennans Way say they owe their lives to police officer Mike Lewis, who noticed smoke at around 2 a.m. while patrolling the neighborhood. Lewis called the fire department and then started knocking on doors and rushing people out.

Lewis led all 16 tenants through the thickening smoke to safety minutes before flames engulfed the structure.

"To me, he's the only factor in the preservation of the lives here today," says Chief Mickey Lee, of the Highland Falls Fire Department. "He did it all, all by himself. They were all out by the time the fire department got here."

The only "tenant" of the building that was injured in the fire was a little kitten that was pulled out of the basement.

The Red Cross put the displaced families up in a hotel and will help them find new housing. The injured kitten is being treated by a local veterinarian.