Crews battle fire at apartment complex on South Parker Road, 86 units displaced
Ten people were treated for minor medical issues in Arapahoe County on Wednesday morning after fire broke out at an apartment complex on South Parker Road. A total of 86 units have been displaced.
One person was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
According to South Metro Fire Rescue tweets, fire crews responded to a fire at a 4-story apartment building at 1306 South Parker Road. Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office was also on scene and helped rescue one resident. More searches led firefighters to use a ladder to rescue another resident.
As of 5:50 a.m., a large presence of emergency vehicles responded to South Parker Road between East Florida Avenue and East Mississippi Avenue.
"Today is a work day for me so my alarm was set to go off at six anyway and about 15 minutes before my alarm went off, you know, I was lying in bed and thinking, I went, 'Ugg... oh that's not good,' because of the fire several weeks ago, I was running around the hallways helping to get people out, so I remember the smell," said resident James Harrell.
Firefighters told CBS News Colorado the fire started at the bottom floor of the apartment building and smoke affected two floors above it.
This is the second fire crews have responded to at this complex in recent months.
In November 2022, balconies and trees caught fire at the building. That fire started on the second floor and spread to the third floor. A number of people had to be rescued from that blaze. After that fire, South Metro Fire said that they consider it a "high-hazard building" that has no alarm or sprinkler because of the time period in which it was built. The cause of that fire has not been determined.
South Metro said the cause of Wednesday's fire is an accidental fire related to cooking. The Red Cross and Arapahoe County Office of Emergency Service are providing support for those who have been displaced.
