1 Injured, 20 Displaced In 'Terrifying' Apartment Fire
DENVER (CBS4) - An apartment fire in Denver early Friday morning has left numerous people without a home, and one person injured.
The Denver Fire Department received the call at 2:41 a.m. for the fire on Yosemite Street at East 12th Avenue. The building was evacuated as firefighters worked units on the second floor.
One man was taken to the hospital in serious condition after suffering from smoke inhalation and possibly other injuries. Nineteen adults, one child and three dogs are now displaced from their homes.
The American Red Cross arrived on scene just before 4:30 a.m. to assist those 20 people, who will be put up in a hotel as temporary shelter ahead of this weekend's storm.
One man living on the third floor said he nearly jumped out of his window to escape the thick smoke, but firefighters came to his rescue just in time.
"We heard people yelling, 'Fire, fire.' We kind of panicked. We couldn't get out the front because of the smoke, so we tried to get out through the window and that's when the lights went out and our doorknob came off," said Michael Lyons. "It was terrifying.
"We were getting ready to jump out the back window of the third floor. We didn't have to do that thank God, the fire department finally kicked the door in, then came to the bedroom and kicked the bedroom door in.
"And for the person who was yelling fire I would like to thank them, too, because they're heroes," he said.
The power went out due to wind that blew the fire up towards power lines, damaging them.
The cause of the fire is unknown, and arson investigators were on scene.
Officials say it unlikely anyone will be allowed back in to their apartment for good on Friday. Residents were re-entering their units at 6 a.m. to gather medication and warmer clothing for the weekend.
It is a scene all too familiar for Red Cross workers in Colorado, who has seen an unusually high number of apartment fires recently.
"It's not unusual for the American Red Cross to respond to a fire a day in Colorado and Wyoming, the difference is that we've really been responding to a lot of these multiple-unit fires recently," said spokeswoman Patricia Billinger. "Just last week we had 130 seniors displaced, we're still helping them right now. This week we also had (another) apartment fire."
