A man with a broken foot tossed down his cane and raced across the street into a burning home Thursday afternoon to help save an elderly blind neighbor and his caretaker, other neighbors said.
The caretaker, identified as Terri Cheverie, suffered serious burns to the lower half of her body during the explosion and fire in the 2000 block of South Gilpin Street.
She was taken to University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora in serious condition.
The owner of the home, 79-year-old James Delaney, and the rescuer — whom neighbors knew only as Raymond — were taken to the hospital because of smoke inhalation. The Denver Fire Department could not confirm their names or conditions.
Neighbor Mike Rosseau was taking a shower when he heard two booms and smelled smoke just before 1 p.m.
He thought his own home was on fire. As soon as he was dressed, he ran outside to see Raymond pulling Cheverie from the home after helping Delaney.
Rosseau held Cheverie until firefighters and paramedics arrived, he said.
Residents on the block, just off of East Evans Avenue, are close-knit and all join in helping care for Delaney, Rosseau said.
The explosion appeared to come from a room near the back of the house where Cheverie usually stayed, Rosseau said.
Windows were boarded up on the gutted home Thursday evening as neighbors stopped by to pick up debris in the well-maintained yard of the home, which public records show was built in 1925.
“Everybody’s concerned,” said Jennifer Morris, who grew up with Cheverie and rushed to the home after hearing about the fire. “They’re nice people,” she said of Cheverie and Delaney.
The Fire Department was still investigating the cause of the explosion and blaze Thursday, spokesman Alex Paez said.
