DENVER -- Three firefighters were injured fighting house fires in Franktown and near Nederland. The fires were among a total of four fires that broke out Wednesday morning.

The first house fire was reported at 2:14 a.m., at 9344 E. State Highway 86. Three adults escaped from the burning home and were rescued from their balcony, but one of the three suffered smoke inhalation.

A firefighter was injured after slipping on a ladder that had iced over and a second firefighter injured his back while fighting the blaze, said Deputy Fire Chief Dave Woodrick of the Franktown Fire Department.

Nine dogs were also rescued from the home.

Woodrick said the fire did not appear to be weather-related, but sub-zero temperatures were recorded while the fire was being fought.

The fire may have been started by sparks from a fireplace, firefighters said.

There's not much damage to the outside of the home but smoke and heat did damage the living room and kitchen, Woodrick said.

Fire Breaks Out Near Nederland

A second house fire broke out in Gilpin County, just west of Nederland.

A home at 1616 S. Beaver Creek Road was fully involved in flames when firefighters from four fire departments arrived. The first call came in at 7:20 a.m. A firefighter suffered chest pains while battling the blaze in 18-below-zero weather.

Personnel from Timberline, Central City, Nederland and Coal Creek Canyon helped battle the blaze.

No one was home when the fire broke out.

Fire Breaks Out In Nursing Home

Cigarette ashes apparently started a fire at the Pinewood Lodge nursing home in Aurora. It forced about a dozen residents from the floor where the fire started.

Some residents were evacuated to a lower floor of the three-story building as a precaution, but no one was injured in the fire.

According to Aurora Battalion Chief Mark Turley, a nursing home resident emptied ashes into a trash can under his desk and the ashes started a fire.

An automatic sprinkler quickly extinguished the blaze.

There was also a fire at a vacant home on Grove Street in Denver. It broke out about midnight.

American Red Cross Responds To Several Fires

Disaster workers with the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter have responded to more than a house fire a day over the past six days, including the call to the Franktown house fire -- where temperatures had dipped to 14 below zero.

Losing your home and possessions to a house fire is devastating for any family, but this week's frigid temperatures have made it particularly challenging for the 19 adults, 10 children and 17 pets displaced by fires throughout the Mile High Chapter's service area.

"A disaster doesn't have to be widespread to have heartbreaking consequences for the local families affected. These families might be your neighbors, coworkers, the person you pass in the grocery store -- and imagine them huddled out in the cold as their home goes up in flames," said Patricia Demchak Billinger, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross Mile High Chapter. "It's a reality that happens more often than any other disaster in this state."

So far in December, the Mile High Chapter has responded to nine disasters -- one for every day this month -- including the eight fires in seven different counties and one search-and-rescue operation near Alamosa, where the Red Cross provided hot drinks and snacks to rescue workers.

In response to the fires, the Red Cross has provided lodging, food, clothing, comfort kits, infant formula, two cribs, clothing, medical equipment and replacement medication.