Fires at two senior centers; one dead
No complex-wide alarms, sprinklers at six-story towers
Two complexes for senior citizens caught fire within about 12 hours of each other Friday night and Saturday morning, leaving one person dead and 15 hospitalized.
The fire Friday at Heather Gardens in Aurora — where a resident was killed and two people were hospitalized, including a firefighter, and homes were destroyed — was being blamed on a gas explosion. Some residents said that after 4 p.m., before the explosion, fire officials informed them that they had identified a gas leak and that residents would be safe in their homes.
Others, however, had received an email sent Wednesday by Heather Gardens warning them not to even light a match because of a “major gas leak” between two buildings.
“We ask that you do not light any matches, lighters, candles, or use anything that could cause a spark for the time being,” the message read.
But multiple residents, including two who live mere feet from Friday’s explosion, said they did not receive the email Wednesday.
The cause of Saturday’s fire at
the Southview Place Towers retirement complex in Littleton was still under investigation late Saturday. That fire sent 13 people to the hospital. Because of the age of the building, it was not fitted for water sprinklers nor a complexwide fire alarm system, fire officials said
Karlene Austgen bent over her walker and shuffled into the warmth of Littleton United Methodist Church, where the local Red Cross had set up a shelter for residents driven from their apartments by a fire at the Southview Place Towers retirement complex early Saturday morning. Austgen, 67, clung to her oxygen tube and her feline roommate, 8-year-old Zuzu, while waiting to be checked in by Red Cross volunteers.
The fire started in a first-floor apartment and produced smoke in every room in the six-story complex.
“I couldn’t see a thing because of all the smoke,” said Austgen, who has lived on the second floor of the complex for more than four years. “Thank God I had my oxygen, or I wouldn’t have made it. “
A fire broke out in another side of the Southview, which advertises to those 55 or older, about two years ago, and residents had to be evacuated then as well, she said. “Makes you wonder what is going on here,” Austgen said.
The blaze started about 5:30 a.m. and drew nearly 100 first responders. It’s considered a “mass casualty incident” because of the number of potential victims.
Littleton police were the first to arrive after responding to a 911 call and began evacuating residents. Some could not get out of their apartments because of the heavy smoke, said South Metro Fire Rescue spokesman Eric Hurst.
At least 13 residents were transported to a hospital, with three considered to be in serious condition, Hurst said. Most appeared to be suffering from smoke inhalation, while some suffered injuries after falling.
“Can you imagine what they saw?” Hurst said. “It’s pitch black, and smoke was everywhere. It must have been terrifying.”
The fire happened in the east side of Southview Place Towers, but no one could determine how many residents were in the entire complex.
After being evacuated, most were sheltered across the street and bused to the nearby church. By midmorning about 50 residents huddled around small tables, sipped warm drinks and worried about their homes. Most, such as Austgen, were dressed only in house coats over pajamas that did little to warm them in the morning’s freezing drizzle.
Residents said they were told fire crews would test the air quality in their apartments before they would be allowed back in.
“I hope I can get back in. I need the rest,” she said.
Resident Jimmy Jones heard firetrucks, which prompted him to leave his side of the complex Saturday morning. Most of the residents, Jones said, know each other fairly well and look out for each other. “And that’s a good thing, because when something like this happens, we all want to help out as much as we can.”
In Aurora, the deceased was identified as Carol Ross. She was found in one of the patio home units at Heather Gardens early Saturday morning, said Sherri-jo Stowell, spokeswoman for the fire department. Aurora Fire Rescue said after initial searches Friday that one person had been unaccounted for.
Two others were injured in the blast, including a firefighter, who was released from a hospital just before midnight, Stowell said.
The cause of the explosion has not been determined.
Ron Achenbach was sitting in a neighbor’s living room Friday night in the Heather Gardens senior community when he heard an enormous crash. The walls shook. Pictures fell to the ground. He thought it must have been a fallen tree.
“Then I saw a fireball the size of truck through the window,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Achenbach ran back to his house. “I saw people people stumbling around,” he said. Flames shot up six stories high.
The investigation is expected to take days or weeks, Stowell said.
Xcel Energy received reports about 5:30 p.m. Friday of gas odor in the area. Before 6 p.m., a large structure fire broke out after an explosion.
“Last night we responded to a suspected leak in approximately 30 minutes,” spokesman Mark Stutz said. “Upon arrival, we were working with the local fire department to secure the area and were in the process of addressing the leak when the explosion occurred.”
This was the second gas-related incident at Heather Gardens in the past week. On Wednesday, Xcel Energy responded to and fixed a gas leak about three blocks from the site of Friday’s explosion, Stutz said. The two incidents were not related, he said, and both were caused by contractors working for a third party.
Fire crews had the blaze under control by 9:30 p.m. Residents were evacuated Friday night, and gas service was turned off.
Houses still smoldered Saturday morning. What used to be neat duplexes looked like a war zone: garage doors blown 50 feet away; a house reduced to blackened rubble, not a single wall still standing; cars in driveways covered by piles of drywall.
Roger Rickson and his wife, Linda Champ, were in their basement when they heard the explosion. Rickson, who spent time in the military, said it “sounded like artillery going off.”
He bolted up the stairs and ran outside, yelling if anyone needed help. He saw flames engulfing entire homes. Less than 100 feet away, Rickson noticed his neighbor trapped in her home.
“The entire wall had been blown off,” he said.
After the explosion, many residents evacuated to the Heather Gardens clubhouse. Carol Drollinger, who was sitting with Achenbach in her home when the explosion rocked her house, watched the community rally in response. ”I’m so proud of our people,” she said. “This was a small town coming together. My faith in humanity is being restored.”