Aurora – Fire officials Sunday defended the response time to an apartment blaze that left one man in critical condition, but they promised a thorough investigation of residents’ concerns that firefighters took too long to arrive.
Fire Chief Casey Jones called a news conference after several residents in an apartment complex at East 16th Avenue and Geneva Street complained firefighters were slow to respond despite numerous attempts to call 911 on Friday night.
Jones said he believes some callers may have been disconnected but said any delay was only about three minutes – rather than the 30 minutes some residents said.
“I’ve been in this business for 32 years, and I’ve been in that situation personally,” Jones said. “Time gets suspended.
“That’s got to be part of what’s happening here,” Jones said.
A detailed report, including call times and 911 tapes, will be completed by Wednesday, Jones said. So far, Aurora has had no official complaints from residents, he said. Some callers on cellphones may have been disconnected or had dropped calls, he said.
Some residents said they battled the blaze themselves. One man said he had time to hurry to a nearby fire station, alert the firefighters and get back to the scene.
One resident, Hardy Bell, 36, suffered smoke inhalation. Arson investigators believe he started the fire in an apparent suicide attempt.
Jones said the first call from the fire scene actually reported a fight at the address. That came in at 10:20 p.m., he said, and a police officer was dispatched.
During the next three minutes, several more calls came in, and at least some of them were disconnected or hung up while on the line.
“We’re only talking about a possibility of three minutes that could have been better,” Jones said.
Firefighters were dispatched at 10:23 p.m., Jones said. They arrived on the scene four minutes later, well within the generally accepted eight-minute window, he said. A primary search of the apartment failed to find Bell.
The fire was out by 10:36 p.m., Jones said. A secondary search of the apartment was ordered at 10:46 p.m. Bell was found six minutes later.
When firefighters found Bell, he was in a closet buried under 3 feet of clothing, books and magazines, Jones said. The door was barricaded by a dresser and nightstand.
“This is not your typical fire victim. He went out of his way to hide himself, and, regrettably, he did a pretty good job of it,” Jones said.
Wayne Jackson, Bell’s brother, said Sunday that Bell was in critical condition at University of Colorado Hospital and has pneumonia.
Jackson was at work the night of the fire, but he said he has heard troubling stories about response time from his neighbors in the three-story, cinder-block apartment building. They told him it took 30 minutes for firefighters to arrive.
“We’re sitting here wondering if anything could have been done differently to save him,” Jackson said.
Todd Francisco, the neighbor who called in the fight, said his cellphone shows he called at 10:19 p.m. On Saturday, he told The Denver Post he had called at 10:11 p.m.
Francisco said that he now has “mixed feelings” and that the times were difficult to determine. But he said he firmly believes firefighters should have been on the scene sooner.
“It did take a long time for anybody to get there,” he said.
Staff writer Sean Kelly can be reached at 303-820-1858 or skelly@denverpost.com.
Timeline
Chronology of the Aurora Fire Department’s response to an apartment fire Friday night, according to Fire Chief Casey Jones:
10:20 p.m.: Call to 911 of a fight at the address of the fire; police officer dispatched
10:23 p.m.: Firefighters dispatched
10:27 p.m.: Firefighters arrive at the apartment complex; a primary search finds no one in the residence
10:36 p.m.: Fire is declared out
10:46 p.m: Secondary search of the apartment is ordered
10:52 p.m.: Hardy Bell, 36, is found hidden in a closet, suffering from smoke inhalation
