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Crews monitoring hotspots after weekend fire that heavily damaged Aurora apartment building under construction

Aurora crews monitoring hotspots after Colorado apartment fire
Aurora crews monitoring hotspots after Colorado apartment fire 01:55

Crews on Monday are monitoring hotspots after a weekend fire at an Aurora apartment building construction site. It caused heavy damage and smoke from the fire could be seen for several miles across the Denver metro area.

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CBS

The five-alarm fire started at East Colfax Avenue and Peoria Street on Saturday. That intersection is closed and will not reopen until there's no longer an active fire scene and investigators determine that it's safe to pass through for drivers.

"We've commenced drone operations to help us with some of the operational concerns there, looking for hotspots," Aurora Fire Rescue spokesman Carlos Oropeza said.  

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CBS

Officials from Aurora Fire Rescue say no one was in the building at the time of the fire, but one firefighter got hurt while fighting the fire. That person's injuries were described as minor.

The cause of the fire so far hasn't been determined. A preliminary investigation has been launched but it's still in the early stages.

"There's so much damage -- it's a significant collapse hazard -- that we haven't actually haven't sent in any personnel for the investigation," Oropeza said on Monday afternoon.

There was also a fire at a different Aurora housing construction site last Thursday. That happened in a different part of the city -- near E-470 and Aurora Parkway -- and no one was hurt. The cause of that fire hasn't been determined but it is being investigated as a possible criminal act.

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