By Lauren Penington, Meg Wingerter, Katie Langford
The Denver Post
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Two people were killed and six taken to the hospital in an early morning fire at an assisted-living facility in Centennial on Thursday, South Metro Fire Rescue officials said.
The fire started accidentally at about 2:23 a.m. due to the “improper disposal of smoking materials” outside the building, the fire agency said on social media.
All eight people in the facility at the time of the fire were either residents or staff of We Care Homes of Colorado Inc.’s St. Francis Assisted Living Facility II, located at 6610 S. Oneida Court, Dahlia Ferrer, one of the facility’s owners, confirmed.
The facility can house up to 10 people, according to We Care Homes .
Fire officials initially reported six residents, who were either killed or injured, were the only people in the building when the fire started. But, after watching body-camera footage of the incident, they determined two staff members had been inside as well, South Metro Fire Rescue spokesperson Tate Owen said.
Five people were rescued by firefighters and three escaped on their own, she said.
Ferrer said the two staff members were both trained in CPR and neither was injured. State records show that, during a November visit, inspectors advised St. Francis of a requirement that at least one person trained in CPR be onsite at all times.
“It was chaos,” neighbor Tracy Veto said Thursday morning. “The firefighters were true heroes. That whole house was completely engulfed in flames and they ran right in and started pulling people out.”
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Veto said she and her husband woke up to the sound of the house “screaming.” They looked out their window and saw the flames. She said the people living inside were quiet, but the wood squealed in the heat.
Within minutes, fire trucks, ambulances and police cars had filled the street.
“It’s terrifying to think it could happen so quickly, in the middle of the night,” Veto said. “It was dry, the wind was blowing. The whole neighborhood could have gone up. It could have been a lot worse.”
She said one woman who firefighters brought out looked completely lifeless in the first responders’ arms. She also said she saw South Metro crews performing CPR on at least three people outside the home.
The neighborhood is a tight-knit community, Veto said. Two of the men living in the home liked to walk up and down the block, making conversation with neighbors.
South Metro officials did not have information about the conditions of the six people taken to the hospital or the status of the building, Tate said.
Investigators ruled the fire accidental and criminal charges are not expected.
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