By Hector Gutierrez
Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
LITTLETON, Colo. — Neighbor Bill Wells pounded on the door of a home Tuesday as flames engulfed its attached garage, shouting for anyone inside to get out.
No one answered. Wells, 67, said he was hoping there was no one home or that anyone who was inside had escaped.
But Wells and other neighbors learned a few hours later that Littleton Fire Rescue firefighters had found a 13-year-old girl dead on the floor of the garage.
Littleton police Sgt. Sean Dugan identified the girl as Jessica Elaine Meyer. She had just finished eighth grade at Powell Middle School.
The child’s parents were at work when the blaze was reported at about 12:30 p.m., Dugan said. He said the girl’s older brother was at a neighbor’s home.
Fire investigators spent the afternoon looking for evidence and pulling charred debris from the garage of the two-story, brick home in the Oakbrook neighborhood, east of South Broadway and north of East County Line Road. The home sustained minor smoke damage.
Arson investigators were called to determine whether foul play was involved, Dugan said. He said it was too early to say if investigators were dealing with an accidental fire or an arson.
Wells said he was working on a car with another man when he noticed smoke billowing from under one of the two garage doors of the house in the 8000 block of South Logan Drive.
Wells said the garage doors were too hot to touch. That’s when he shouted for the other man to call 911.
Wells rang the doorbell, but no one answered. He then quickly headed back to his home to retrieve a fire extinguisher.
“I then heard an explosion, and I thought it was probably a tire that exploded,” Wells said. He then noticed that, in addition to the smoke, liquid was flowing from under the garage door and into the driveway.
“I thought it was water, and as I started walking I saw that it ignited,” he said.
Meanwhile the emergency dispatcher on the phone with Wells’ acquaintance told him to tell Wells and everyone else to stay away from the fire.
Wells left the extinguisher at his home, but felt he needed to return to the house because he was still uneasy about someone being inside. He said he was about to open the front door, but decided against it because he didn’t want to accelerate any flames inside the house by letting more oxygen in.
“I used my fist, and whaled on the door,” Wells recalled. “I whaled on it to let anybody know in there to get out.”
When he got no answer, Wells went to the side of the house and was prepared to use a hose when the firefighters began arriving.
“To their credit, they were here in five minutes,” he said.
Another resident of the neighborhood had seen Jessica’s older brother at a neighbor’s home and told him that his house was on fire, witnesses said.
Shortly after firefighters smothered the flames, they discovered the body on the floor. An autopsy on Jessica’s body is scheduled for Friday, Dugan said.
Investigators did find evidence that aerosol cans inside the garage had exploded, he said. Two snowmobiles and a motorcycle inside the garage were destroyed.
Dugan said investigators are looking at the possibility that the victim came upon the fire. That’s because they noticed that the door connecting the house to the garage was open.
Neighbors spent the afternoon with the girl’s family members. The parents gave investigators written permission to search their home for any evidence that might help them find the cause of the blaze.
“I can’t say enough about how cooperative the family has been,” Dugan said.
Diane Leiker, spokeswoman for the Littleton School District, said officials at Powell Middle School have been in touch with victims’ assistance personnel and were making plans to have grief counselors at the campus for staff and students.
“We’re just very concerned about the family,” Leiker said. “Our hearts go out to them. It’s such a tragedy.”