ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — One person is dead and several others are injured following an apartment fire in Arapahoe County that displaced more than 20 residents early Saturday morning.
Crews from South Metro Fire Rescue responded around 4 a.m. to a report of a residential fire with active flames in the hallway at Ivy Crossing Apartment Homes, located at 2470 South Quebec Street. The fire forced some people to jump out of windows, according to an SMFR news release.
Upon arrival, firefighters found numerous people trapped inside the building and on balconies. Flames had already consumed the entire second and third-floor hallways, both stairwells and extended into multiple apartments, according to the news release.
Crews encountered extreme heat as they pushed through the building with hose lines searching for people trapped. Firefighters and medics rescued several people. However, one person died. Two other victims were transported to the hospital, one in critical condition and the other with serious injuries. Four firefighters sustained minor injuries fighting the blaze.
South Metro Fire Rescue, with assistance from the Aurora and Denver fire departments, was able to get the fire under control about an hour after firefighters arrived. Approximately 80 personnel from several agencies worked for more than two hours to put the fire out.
The two-alarm fire broke out in building No. 2380 and displaced 23 units. Red Cross was on site Saturday providing assistance. The extent of the damage is unknown.
A Ivy Crossing resident, Aladdin Nyazi, said he was woken up by a phone call.
"I wake up at 7 to a phone call from this lady saying she wanted to account for me for this incident," Nyazi said.
Nyazi was able to escape the building unharmed, but he said he was worried about the potential loss of his pets and his belongings.
"I'm really worried. My whole life is in there," he said, holding back tears. "I have a black cat, a Russian black cat and two chinchillas."
Denver7 was able to reach out to South Metro Fire Rescue officials to help him reunite with his pets, which all four had survived.
"They’re safe. They’re semi-healthy seeming. I just got to get them checked out," he added.
The complex is made up of several buildings and is located in unincorporated Arapahoe County, just outside the Denver city line.
The complex did not have sprinklers installed. The buildings were built in 1972, and at that time sprinklers were not required, according to the South Metro Fire Rescue spokeswoman Lauren Ono.
Two months before the fire, building inspectors found multiple fire code violations at the property, according to a fire inspection report obtained by Denver7 Sunday. The violations included missing or non-working fire extinguishers and a lack of manual fire alarms in all the buildings aside from townhomes.
However, the SMFR release said that prior to the fire, the agency had been working with property management to retrofit full-building alarm systems for better notification to residents when a fire occurs.
In March of last year, the complex was the scene of an arson that heavily damaged a building and displaced 23 residents. No arrests were made in the case. There's no official word on what caused Saturday's fire, which is under investigation by the SMFR Fire Marshal’s Office.
The identity of the deceased and cause and manner of death will be released by the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office at a later time.
