Xcel Energy investigating Denver power outage and apartment fire
Xcel Energy is investigating a power outage that was reported around the same time that a fire broke out at a Denver apartment building on Wednesday.
A power pole was leaning at an angle against the building at 8525 East Hampden Avenue, just west of South Yosemite Street, but it's still unclear if the fire caused damage to the pole, causing it to tip over, or if the pole and connecting lines sparked the fire.
We understand some of our customers from the apartment complex may be displaced and that this causes a hardship for them. We are investigating Wednesday's electric power outage and the apartment fire that occurred," Xcel spokesperson Michelle Aguayo said in a statement on Thursday.
The power outage was first reported at 2:22 p.m. and impacted 2,792 customers. Aguayo said that Xcel crews restored power to 2,154 of those customers by 3:04 p.m. and the remaining 638 customers' power was restored by 9:25 p.m.
The pole that fell has also since been replaced, she said.
A Denver Fire Department spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but said on Wednesday that one person was taken to the hospital after what they described as a two-alarm fire.
One resident, who only went by Chris, said he was at home when the fire broke out. He was doing dishes on his day off when the power was cutting out and coming back on. Then he heard strange sounds coming from outside that led him to investigate.
"So I go out on my balcony and I hear a power line, like the static of that, and then I run out and I go behind the building and the building adjacent to mine in the back is on fire," he told CBS News Colorado on Wednesday. "But apparently, a power line hit the building and it was on fire."
