By Hector Gutierrez
The Rocky Mountain News
DENVER — Denver firefighters used hydraulic ladders to rescue two people from a balcony after an apartment building for the elderly caught fire Wednesday.
Firefighters also rescued three men who were trapped on the building’s sixth floor, where the fire appeared to have started, said Lt. Philip Champagne, fire department spokesman.
The five people were treated for smoke inhalation, and an ambulance took at least one of them to a hospital, Champagne said.
The 10-story William Tell Apartments for Senior Living, in the 1500 block of Williams Street, houses many elderly residents.
Champagne was trying to verify whether the five people who were rescued were residents or visitors.
It took about 10 minutes for firefighters to put out the blaze, which spread to one of the units.
Ronald Wise said that his mother, Willie Mae Jones, 96, was on the fifth floor and had phoned him, asking him to come get her after firefighters arrived.
By the time Wise reached the apartment building, the two had talked on the phone again.
“She said, ‘You go ahead on home, baby, I’m all right,’ ” Wise said. “She said, ‘I never lost control.’ ”
Firefighters were called to the building about 4:30 p.m.
When they arrived, they found heavy smoke and kept receiving reports of people trapped, Champagne said.
Firefighters also found people standing on their balconies who wanted to get out.
Firefighters raced to apartments above the sixth floor, informing residents and visitors to stay in the units and keep their doors and windows shut, Champagne said.
Investigators were trying to figure out what caused the fire.
Copyright 2008 Denver Publishing Company