One person was taken to the hospital following an early morning fire that heavily damaged a house in the 3200 block of York Street.
Denver Fire Department spokesman Phil Champagne said four people inside when the fire broke out in the basement got out on their own after a smoke detector alerted them. Their ages range from 22 to 76 years old.
After the blaze was out, they sat in the yard in bathrobes with their Sheltie, waiting for the Red Cross to arrive.
The person taken to Denver Health is suffering from smoke inhalation, said Champagne.
Family members at the scene declined to comment.
The fire was reported at 6:22 a.m. It took 36 firefighters from seven stations about 15 minutes to extinguish the flames.
“It was a pretty extensive fire. You need to immediately respond” with plenty of firefighters and equipment to knock the fire down, said Champagne.
“All fires are extremely dangerous. But at this time of a day a lot of people are sleeping,” a reason that smoke detectors should be installed, said Champagne.
Champagne said that the cause of the fire was an extension cord placed under a basement carpet.
Champagne said extension cords are not designed to be under carpets. He said they accumulate heat and when people walk on them they short out and ignite a fire.
The Tom Calabrese was one of the first firefighters on the scene. He said heavy flames were shooting up from the basement and out the back porch, and the house was enveloped in thick smoke.
Firefighters broke windows in the basement and first and second floors to decrease the fire’s intensity and keep it from spreading.
Calabrese and Champagne said a major concern was that the intense fire would spread from the back of the house to a power line, six vehicles parked in the driveway or to an adjacent house.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
