AURORA, Colo. — Three people, including a juvenile, were injured in an apartment fire in Aurora early Saturday morning.
The fire started shortly after 2:30 a.m. in a third-floor unit of a building at Glen at the Park Apartment Homes near South Jasper Circle and South Joplin Street.
Neighbors say they saw two adults jump from the balcony onto the ground, and Aurora Fire Rescue confirmed it rescued a child from the apartment.
All three were transported to the hospital, spokesperson Sherri-Jo Stowell said. One of the adults and the child suffered life-threatening injuries.
Justin Kirkwood, who lives directly below the apartment, says his father was awake when the fire started and woke him up. He immediately stepped into action to help the family upstairs.
“I got the door open, [but] it was just too much smoke. Black smoke was just rushing out,” he said. “It was definitely traumatizing hearing the screams, hearing the calls for help.”
Firefighters worked quickly to contain the fire to the third-floor unit, but some other residents, including Kirkwood, will likely be displaced because of smoke and water damage.
Most concerning, he says, was never hearing smoke alarms go off as the fire spread.
“Didn't hear not one smoke detector. I didn't hear not one smoke detector,” Kirkwood said.
Aurora Fire Rescue couldn’t confirm whether any smoke alarm went off, but cautioned residents to double-check their alarms to make sure they’re in working condition.
“If that's the case, and smoke alarms weren't sounding at the time of the fire, this is a great reminder for people to get home, test your smoke alarms, do it today and come up with a home fire safety plan,” Stowell said.
In Aurora, residents can contact the fire department to have their alarms checked. On Saturday alone, as part of an event, volunteers installed more than 50 smoke alarms.
“Hopefully this incident, and seeing this on your channel, is going to encourage people to check their alarms and make their home safer,” Stowell said.
Kirkwood is thankful his father was awake when the fire started and called 911.
“It would have definitely probably been a whole building on fire,” he said.
Denver7 reached out to the property manager for comment about the concerns from neighbors about their smoke alarms but hasn’t received a response.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
