Folks rushed to help family

Brian Bender leaned flowers against his neighbor’s mailbox Wednesday morning — a stark contrast of color and vitality against the ashen, boarded-up home where a raging fire took one life and injured six others Tuesday night.

The house at 9752 W. Stanford Ave., directly across the street from Bender’s, was so engulfed in smoke and flames that he couldn’t see it from his driveway. The morning after the fire, tipped flower pots were strewn about the yard and a porch swing stood seemingly intact.

“I feel guilty because I didn’t hear it soon enough,” Bender said. “I should have done more.”

On Wednesday morning, Bender washed his car in his driveway and occasionally looked toward the sootcovered residence of his neighbors, who lost their disabled son and their home.

Bender shuddered as he remembered the images of the night — billowing smoke, chaos, a harsh orange glow. He said the tragedy would have been much worse if not for courageous neighbors who battled an inferno to help their friends next door.

Firefighters were called at about 6:50 p.m. to the house, near the intersection of West Quincy Avenue and South Kipling Street.

The two-story home was burning when firefighters arrived, with heavy flames in the basement.

“That was a really intense fire,” said Denver Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Taylor. “The house will be a total loss.”

Bender, who has lived on the block for about 15 years, watched neighbor Dennis Henrickson run toward the burning building and throw ladders against the back of the house to reach the couple and their middle-age, wheelchair-bound son.

“Some people are alive today because of this man and other neighbors who jumped into action,” Bender said.

By the time the fire department arrived, Bender said, Henrickson already had helped people out of the home.

“It all happened so fast,” he said. “We were all just running around.”

The couple’s son, who Bender said suffered from multiple sclerosis, was unable to escape. Neither the son nor the couple, who remain hospitalized, have been identified.

In all, six people were injured. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

One firefighter was treated for minor injuries, and another was treated and released from a hospital Tuesday night.

Witnesses told firefighters that two civilian victims who were taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation were trying to rescue people, Taylor said.

Neither Henrickson nor another neighbor wanted to comment about the fire, but Bender remained grateful for their actions.

“The real heroes are the humble, quiet ones,” Bender said. “My neighbors are people you can look in the eye and know you’ve got someone looking out for you.”