Two people were injured at the Halcyon House high-rise apartments at 1955 Arapahoe St. on Thursday morning when fire broke out in a fifth-floor apartment, according to Denver Fire Department spokesman Alex Paez.
The Halcyon 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 dashed 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,” said Harris, who was babysitting her 3-year-old grandson, Christian.
The apartment fire drew lots of spectators because of its downtown location; office workers in nearby buildings viewed the fire out of high-rise windows.
Arapahoe Street, typically busy with vehicle and pedestrian traffic, was shut down for several hours between 19th and 20th streets.
Paez said a firefighter who suffered a cut to his hand fighting the fire also was taken to a hospital.
Ten pieces of firefighting 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. and spread from the interior of the apartment to the balcony.
The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes, Paez said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
