Smoke alarms were credited with the saving the lives of an elderly couple whose Westminster home caught fire late last night.
The fire was reported at 11:35 p.m. at the residence in the 4700 block of 69th Drive.
When a Westminster police officer arrived on the scene, he found that the female resident was physically unable to assist her husband from the house.
The officer found him on the back deck and helped him to safety.
Firefighters immediately started a search for the couple’s three dogs, cat and six kittens.
One of the dogs ran from the home; a second was quickly found and rescued. The third dog was located by firefighters as they made a second sweep of the home and was removed.
Five of the kittens were saved, but one kitten and the mother cat died.
Westminster Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron McCuiston credited smoke detectors with saving the lives of the couple.
“The couple was alerted to the fire because of smoke alarms,” McCuiston said. “It is incredibly important to have working smoke alarms near sleeping areas. In this case, the residents would have likely died if they had not been woken up by the alarm.”
Investigators said the fire started in the basement family room. Firefighters were able to limit the damage to the family room, but the entire residence had smoke and water damage.
Immediate financial assistance was given to the couple through the Westminster Fire Department’s “Burn Fund,” created as a charitable foundation to provide fire victims with financial help until other agencies and insurance companies can step in.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
