A soldier who rescued three children and a pregnant woman from a burning apartment building in Edmonton, Alberta, is being called a hero.

Corporal Rohan Wilson, 28, was chatting on his cell phone on Thursday evening with his mother in Jamaica while driving by the three-story apartment when he saw flames shooting from the building.

The army clerk, recently transferred to CFB Edmonton from Winnipeg, said he hung up on his mother, called 911, and ran to the building to warn the occupants.

"The entire doorway was filled with flames and there was a lot of smoke," says Wilson, who was on his way to pay a bill at the time.

The occupants, Jeff Westley, 23, and Terra Hughes, 22, and their three children, had fled their apartment to a second-floor balcony after the blaze blocked the emergency exits in the hallway.

Wilson heard their cries and climbed onto the second-floor balcony and while hanging from the bottom of the third-floor with one hand, passed the children to safety.

He also helped another resident, a pregnant woman, climb from her second-floor apartment.

Both Hughes and Westley were grateful and called Wilson a hero for helping rescue their children, Levi, 4, Summer, 18 months, and 6-week-old Rayven.

"I didn't have a hero," says Westley. "But my kids sure did."

Mr. Wilson, however, was modest about his actions.

"I feel good but it was an instinct reaction," Wilson said. ``Someone needed help .''

Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control but at least one person from the 15-unit building was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation.

The fire department considers the blaze suspicious and arson investigators are studying the damage.

1. What had the occupants, Jeff Westley, 23, and Terra Hughes, 22, and their three children, fled to a second-floor balcony after the blaze blocked the emergency exits in the hallway?