Boise church pastor killed in RV fire ‘was a very humble man’

Amado Martinez Perez, pastor of a Boise church, was killed in an RV fire on the side of Interstate 84 near Mountain Home last Friday morning.

A visitation for him will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Dakan Funeral Chapel, 504 South Kimball Ave., Caldwell, according to a death notice published in the Statesman. A funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the same chapel. Burial will follow at the Canyon Hill Cemetery.

Friends of Perez set up a GoFundMe account for his family. As of midday Tuesday, five people had donated $375.

Perez, 68, of Nampa, was pastor at Spanish Pentecostal Church. The group rents space at Mountain View Community Fellowship.

“Pastor Perez was a very humble man,” said James R. Gusman, a prophetic evangelist who was an associate pastor under Perez. “He was very direct. He did not put up with any kind of negativity. He was very gentle and firm with his sheep.”

Guzman said Perez, who was from Houston, had been a church pastor in the Treasure Valley about five years, first in Caldwell and then in Boise.

“He put me through Bible school,” Gusman said. “I was his right arm, me and pastor worked together as a team. He was a father to me.”

A friend of Perez said he was driving the RV home from his daughter’s house in Montana when the fire occurred. It was reported to emergency dispatch at 8:39 a.m.

Elmore County Chief Deputy Mike Barclay said Perez told a friend driving behind him that he had run out of gas. Perez then pulled over, put gas in the tank and added some to the carburetor to prime it.

Perez continued back down the highway, but quickly pulled over again. The engine, located inside the cabin of the older model RV, had caught fire, Barclay said.

Perez tried to get out of the RV but couldn’t get the door open. It’s unclear why.

His friend outside the motor home was also unable to get the door open. He directed Perez to a rear window. The friend’s initial attempt to break the back window was unsuccessful, so he retrieved a steel pipe from his car. He broke out the window but he and others at the scene, including an Idaho State Police trooper and a passing truck driver, were unable to get Perez out before flames and smoke overtook him.

Perez is survived by his wife Irma, five adult children and his grandchildren.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Boise church pastor killed in RV fire ‘was a very humble man’."