A young Fort Collins mother who died in an apartment fire with her infant daughter desperately called 911 and told a dispatcher she was “trapped,” according to transcripts released Monday.
Poudre Fire Authority investigators believe the fire was probably caused by a discarded cigarette flicked into illegally stored painting materials under a stairwell, said Jason Mantas, a fire spokesman.
“That’s where the fire started, in the material,” Mantas said. “Witnesses indicate there had been a lot of people out smoking that night. The whole area was littered with cigarette butts.”
Killed in the July 31 fire were Kris Kueneman, 23, and her 8-month-old girl, Lilly.
The pair died of smoke inhalation, according to the Larimer County coroner’s office. During the fire, Kueneman put Lilly into the kitchen sink and filled it with water in an attempt to save her baby, officials said.
Investigators do not have a witness who saw someone toss a butt on the pile – which included tarps, cardboard, brushes, rollers and 5- gallon cans of latex paint – but the investigation will remain open in case a lead develops, Mantas said.
“It makes you angry, because had that not been there, the cigarette would not have lit that building on fire,” said Carol Weil of Lander, Wyo., Kueneman’s aunt.
The painting materials that fueled the early-morning fire were stored by painters with a local company, Inside and Out Painting, Mantas said. Storing the materials under the stairwell is a fire-code violation, but the company was not fined, he said.
The company could not be reached for comment Monday.
A single parent who worked at a Fort Collins sandwich shop, Kueneman called 911 to report the fire.
“I can’t get out of the apartment. I’m trapped,” she told a dispatcher.
After getting the address and the apartment number, the dispatcher asked Kueneman whether there was another way out.
“No, there isn’t,” Kueneman said. “Um, that’s the only exit.”
Kueneman said she might be able to flee through a window, according to 911 transcripts. But she began coughing and breathing heavily.
“Ma’am? Pick up the phone. Get to the window. Get to the window,” the dispatcher pleaded.
The fire broke out at a government-subsidized two-story building managed by CARE Housing Inc.
“There was no fire exit in that building. That stands out in our minds and always will,” Weil said. “There was only one way in and one way out, and it was engulfed in flames. She really didn’t stand a chance.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
