Two people were injured at the Halcyon House high-rise apartment at 1955 Arapahoe St. this morning when fire broke out in a fifth-floor apartment, according to Denver Fire Department spokesman Alex Paez.
The Halycon House is a subsidized housing facility for the elderly and disabled.
Occupants were evacuated from the fifth floor and the woman in unit 511, where the fire broke out, was taken to a local hospital for minor burns and smoke inhalation.
“All I know is I got out,” said Daryl Miller, who has lived in the building since 1985.
A maintenance man in the building warned Miller of the fire just across the hall.
“He pushed his head through the door and said, ‘You’ve got to go,’ ” Miller said.
Miller, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, made a mad dash out with his dog, Lightning, a 14-month-old Rhodesian ridgeback.
Jan Harris, a second-floor resident of the building, said a public-address system warned her, and many other residents, of the fire.
“It’s scary — it’s just scary,” Harris, who was babysitting her 3-year-old grandson, Christian, said of the fire.
The apartment fire drew lots of spectators because of its downtown location; office workers in nearby buildings viewed the fire out of hi-rise windows.
Arapahoe Street, typically busy with car and pedestrian traffic, was shut down for several hours between 19th and 20th streets.
Paez said a firefighter who sustained a cut to his hand fighting the fire was treated and released at a local hospital.
Denver fire investigators believe the fire was caused by a cigarette that was discarded into a pile on personal belongings on a balcony.
Ten pieces of fire-fighting equipment were sent to the scene, as well as a command unit, fire department officials said.
The fire was first reported at 10:51 a.m.
The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes, said Paez.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
