A Denver homeless woman nearly froze to death early this Thanksgiving morning and barely made it to a fire station for help, authorities say.
At 4:48 a.m., the woman suffering a severe case of hypothermia knocked on the door of Denver Fire Station 8 on 1616 Park Avenue West, said Lt. Phil Champagne, Denver fire spokesman.
“(She) was was teetering. We’re so grateful that (she) had the wherewithal to make it,” he said.
Firefighers initially reported that the victim was a man.
An ambulance rushed the unidentified woman to Denver Health Medical Center where she was treated for hypothermia.
Temperatures in Denver dropped to 4 degrees, said Byron Lewis, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boulder.
Taking into account wind chill, the temperature dropped to negative 5 degrees, Lewis said.
Temperatures that low are tremendously dangerous, especially for homeless people sleeping on the street without much protection, Champagne said.
“Over the span of my career I’ve gone out on many calls of homeless people freezing to death,” he said. “It’s so tragic. It’s something you never forget.”
Hypothermia can strike quickly. People experiencing symptoms often become disoriented. They experience a deceptive feeling of warmth and comfort, Champagne said.
“After that, it ends pretty quickly,” he said.
Anywhere between 1 to 3 inches of snow fell overnight in the mountains, Lewis said.
Temperatures are expected to rise to the low 30s today and increase to the upper 40s by Black Friday, more ideal for Christmas shopping.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
