Firefighters respond to suicide call, blaze

Firefighters in Arapahoe County were answering an emergency involving a suicidal woman Saturday when the townhouse she was in burst into flames, authorities say.

The woman was hospitalized and firefighters extinguished the blaze at 7474 E. Arkansas Ave., said Chief Jerry Rhodes of the Cunningham Fire Protection District.

In an unrelated incident, a man accidentally shot himself on the same street a few blocks away at about the same time, Rhodes said. That man was being treating for a “survivable wound,” the chief said.

“They are five or six blocks apart from each other,” he said. “They just happened at the same time.”

The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and Cunningham firefighters responded to a call at 1:58 p.m. of a woman threatening to hurt herself with a knife, Rhodes said.

When fire crews arrived, deputies told them to stand by until the law enforcement team controlled the suicidal situation, Rhodes said. While they were waiting, a fire broke out.

“It was put out relatively fast,” Rhodes said.

He added, however, that firefighters discovered a large amount of accelerants in the home. Dispatchers then called the South Metro Fire District to send fire crews for assistance.

Denver police also were called to the scene.