The Associated Press
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Firefighters who rescued dozens of people through windows of a burning three-story apartment complex searched early Wednesday for anyone who might not have escaped.
No deaths were immediately reported from the fire that injured 24 people early Tuesday, and firefighters did not know if anyone was unable to escape.
The Colorado Springs chapter of the American Red Cross, which was sheltering some of the apartment residents, hadn’t heard of anyone trying to find a missing person, said David Just, the group’s chief executive.
Firefighters were still extinguishing small pockets of flames in the building nearly 24 hours after the blaze started.
“In the several apartments we did enter, we did not find anyone, which is good,” city spokesman John Leavitt said. “We don’t want to find anyone.”
Firefighters did find some wet and shivering cats and dogs. They were to be reunited with their families, Leavitt said.
Crews arriving at the fire scene found people hanging out of windows and balconies.
Fire Capt. Glenn Conklin said crews rescued 62 people through windows. Some survivors jumped from balconies, but it wasn’t clear whether they were included in the fire department total.
“People were throwing kids out of the windows,” resident James Evans told The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs. “I just woke up and it was on fire — everything was on fire.”
Memorial Hospital Central took in 23 people with sprained ankles, broken bones and other injuries, none of which appeared to be life-threatening.
One firefighter also suffered a minor injury, fire Lt. Jeff Sievers said.
The temperature was 8 degrees, and runoff from the fire hoses froze into a thick sheet of ice on nearby streets.
The three-story apartment complex has about 130 units.