The bodies of two people, likely a man and woman, were found overnight by firefighters inside a burning home in Lakewood, police said.
The fire started about 9 p.m. Tuesday at a home in the 6700 block of West 14th Avenue, said Steve Davis, a Lakewood Police Department spokesman.
Police have not positively identified the victims, but a neighbor said a woman lived in the single-story, brick rowhome just off of Pierce Street.
Paula Hernandez, who lives two or three doors down, said she heard the woman whose home burned arguing with a boyfriend shortly before the fire broke out.
Hernandez said the woman worked on and off as a clerk, waitress and bartender, most recently tending bar at a nearby tavern.
“I feel really bad for her,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said she felt confident that the bodies inside the home were the woman who had lived there and her current boyfriend.
When firefighters arrived at the home, flames were coming out of the front of the building, said Micki Trost, a West Metro Fire Protection District spokeswoman.
Someone who knew the people in the home called 911 from outside the burning residence to alert firefighters, Trost said.
Firefighters with West Metro found the bodies in the front of the home.
“Entering the structure, firefighters encountered one deceased individual,” Trost said. “As they put out the flames, there was another deceased individual.”
Authorities have not yet positively identified the pair. The bodies were badly burned, Davis said.
Investigators were serving a search warrant at the home this morning, waiting for daylight because electricity in the home was out because of the fire.
The incident remains under investigation, and more details are expected to be released later today.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
