DENVER — After a fire at a Denver apartment complex on Dec. 4, dozens of families who have been staying at a hotel are unsure where they will spend Christmas.
Those with the Denver Fire Department (DFD) said a fire at the Cedar Run Apartment Complex was confined to a stairway on the garden level near the parking garage. As of Sunday evening, a cause has not been determined. However, DFD said those with the building reached out afterward to inform them asbestos was found in the wall firefighters removed to confirm the fire had not spread.
The fire and subsequent asbestos forced dozens of families living in that specific building to evacuate. Many have been staying at an Extended Stay America hotel for around two weeks.
Those with the hotel said several families checked in on December 5, taking up around 23 rooms. The average price for a single room for a week is just over $500. The groups that checked in on December 5 are scheduled to check out on Tuesday, Dec. 20.
Brenda Corral said those with Cedar Run Apartments paid for the two-week stay but claims the complex will stop paying for the families when they are scheduled to check out on Dec. 20.
“I cannot afford to pay this hotel," Corral, who was one of the evacuated families, said from the hotel room she shares with her son and brother. "It has us really anxious, and we've been feeling depressed."
Click here to go directly to the secure Denver7 Gives form. Then in the drop-down menu, select "Help After Cedar Run Apartment Fire."
Corral also said those with Cedar Run Apartments sent a notice to the residents of the affected building saying their leases would be terminated on Dec. 19.
“We haven't been able to go back. They tell us because of asbestos," Corral said. "There's a lot of families who don't know what they're going to do.”
Denver7 has reached out to those with Cedar Run Apartments and is waiting to hear back. Their emergency maintenance line referred us to their corporate office, Apartment Management Consultants.
Eduardo Cabral and Normal Solis are members of another family staying at the hotel. The couple said they lived at the Cedar Run Apartment complex for around eight years.
Now, the parents are sharing a small room with their two youngest children, while their two older children are in a separate hotel room.
“We don't have a steady place now. Because they decided not to give us a place to stay anymore," Cabral said. “We live in like suspense. We don't know when we're going to be home.”
As Denver7 waits to hear back from the apartment company, a fundraiser has been set up to help these families through the tough time coinciding with the holiday season.
“It's sad the apartment complex is not helping us, but there are other people out there willing to help us," Corral said. “Anything helps, anything helps. I'm so grateful. I'm just trying my best here to give my son a good Christmas.”
Denver7 Gives has opened a fund to help support the families impacted by the fire. Click here and select 'Help After Cedar Run Apartment Fire' in the drop-down menu.
Other families impacted by the fire can reach out to Denver7 to apply for the money donated to the fundraiser.
Denver7 features the stories of people who need help and now you can help them with a cash donation through Denver7 Gives. One hundred percent of contributions to the fund will be used to help people in our local community.
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