AVON — Nine-year-old Taylor De Leon had a hand in saving her family and other residents in a condominium in this ski resort when she woke and smelled smoke.
Smoke detectors in the condo where she was staying with her grandmother, parents and three siblings failed to go off when a fire broke out in the ceiling, said Eagle River Fire Protection District Chief Charles Moore.
Emergency workers evacuated more than 20 people from the Stone Creek Condominium at 760 W. Beaver Creek Blvd. after the fire started about 5:30 Sunday morning.
“I woke up one time, and I smelled smoke, and I thought that it was just downstairs in the fireplace,” said Taylor, a student at Lone Tree Elementary School. “The second time I woke up and my bathroom door was glowing.”
Taylor woke her grandmother, who grabbed Taylor’s sister, Christie, 3, and ran downstairs where the rest of the family was staying.
The family lives in Highlands Ranch.
