LAKEWOOD, Colo. — At least two people were killed, three were hospitalized and seven others were injured in an apartment fire in Lakewood early Monday morning.
People started calling 911 around 4:15 a.m. to report a fire at the Tiffany Square Apartments near W. 9th Avenue and Sheridan. When firefighters arrived, multiple units of the apartment were fully involved, said West Metro Fire Rescue spokeswoman Ronda Scholting.
Firefighters evacuated residents, but some told Denver7 they did not hear any fire alarms, and instead heard somebody pounding on their door or smelled smoke. A few said they had to jump out of their windows.
West Metro Fire said three residents — a mother, father, and child — were injured and taken to a hospital. The mother and child had to jump from the second story to escape the fire, Scholting said.
Six others were treated at the scene, including a firefighter who was treated for smoke inhalation, Lakewood police said in a news release.
The blaze was under control as of 5:30 a.m.
Later Monday morning, a family member confirmed to Denver7 that two of their family members died in the fire, and identified them as a woman and her young daughter.
"It doesn't feel real at all," one of the girl's cousins told Denver7. "I can't believe it's real. I can't."
She described the girl as someone who would give you the shirt off her back and drop anything she doing to be there for you.
"I feel like I lost my best friend, I do," she said. "I feel like I lost my best friend."
Residents of the complex told Denver7 they were lucky to be alive.
"As I was waking up, I had looked outside and noticed everything was orange," said Davian Flores, who escaped the morning blaze with his family. "By the time I had made it down the stairs, my feet were on fire."
Flores said he and his wife were sleeping when their 2-month-old daughter started crying. Flores said the couple grabbed their three young children as fast as they could to escape, but not before the flames reached their door.
"It was so hard for us to get out because of the fact that the whole door was full of fire, so, like, we had to choose between either staying there or running out to the fire," Odessa Mestes, Flores' wife, told Denver7. "If it wasn't for our daughter. I feel like ... if she wouldn't have woken us up ... I feel like maybe we could have lost their lives in there."
The fire damaged 14 units and others were damaged due to smoke and water. The residents in all 32 units have been displaced. An evacuation shelter was set up at 7815 W. 16th Avenue in Lakewood.
One of the residents, Nhi Nyguyen, said she had lived at the apartment for more than 10 years. She said she had to climb out of her window barefoot to escape the fire.
"That was pretty traumatic, but I think I'm still processing it," she said. "It'll probably hit later, but right now, I'm just glad we got out quickly," she said.
Because investigators have not yet been able to enter all of the units, they do not have full confirmation on any additional fatalities at this time. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The apartment is on the Lakewood-Denver line.
Editor's Note: We've removed the names of the victims who lost their lives in the fire, who were identified to Denver7 by a close family member, out of respect for other family members. Their names will be publicly released by the coroner's office.