Dozens Of Melted Vehicles Among Damage From Massive Construction Fire
DENVER (CBS4)- Tow trucks on Thursday hauled away dozens of vehicles damaged by the massive fire of a building under construction at 18th Avenue and Emerson Street.
Shawna Saeedian works at a building right behind the construction site. She ran from the scene after the fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon.
Two construction workers were killed in the fire that broke out just after noon on Wednesday. It took some 100 firefighters to extinguish the fire.
"We saw smoke coming through and we promptly ran from the building" Saeedian said.
She had no hope that her car, which was parked in the lot between her building and the fire, survived the blaze.
"We were very worried about everybody escaping the building next door. That was the first thought, then of course the other thoughts go through... the cars are gone obviously."
Thursday morning she got to see what was left. She was surprised at just how much damage the fire did.
"The seats were gone the car liners inside, everything was melted," said Saeedian.
Shawna's boss Christy Chaudhuri got to see inside of their building.
"It has water damage, it has soot," Chaudhuri said. "Our electric meters on the back... they look like a melted candle... there are holes in our roof."
Chaudhuri says her business will be closed for some time.
She says it's just an inconvenience, and her main concern is for the construction workers who were on the site when the fire ignited.
"This is just stuff. It's dusty, smoky, bad smelling, pretty horrible stuff, but it's just stuff," Chaudhuri said.
She says as soon as they can they will re-open for business. Even if it's at another location.
She promises, "We'll look for space. We'll buy new phones, but we'll be back."
Michael Abeyta is a 4th generation Coloradan and a Multimedia Journalist for CBS4. His stories can be seen on CBS4 News at 5 & 6. He is on Twitter! Follow him @AbeytaCBS4.