AURORA — It’s hard to find words to comfort Sam Dias.
On Saturday, he lost his mother, Karen Dias, 66, and almost lost his 43-year-old brother, Keith Dias, in an apartment fire that spread so quickly, witnesses said, that residents were jumping to safety from the second and third stories.
“I got a long road ahead of me,” Sam Dias said. “My mom was a nice, caring lady. She pretty much enjoyed her life. Great mom — took care of us the best she could.”
Karen Dias lived on the third floor of the building that caught fire. Keith Dias lived with her to help take care of her, Sam Dias told 9News.
Before 6 a.m. Saturday, the Aspen Wood Apartments near East Sixth Avenue and Potomac Street caught on fire.
Firefighters are still working to figure out how the fire started, but said the blaze began in the kitchen of a first-floor apartment.
Investigators said Karen Dias fell from the second-story stairway, which was on fire. Sam Dias said it appears his brother fell, too.
“The only way they could get out was that way,” he said. “So I guess the intention was to, I want to say, try to go over, but in the process of going over, they fell.”
Sam Dias says he is focusing on helping his brother recover and putting his mom to rest.
“My mom was just an outgoing, nice person. She would give you her last dollar. She’s very loving, really don’t even have to know you, but she’ll sit and talk to you,” Dias said. “I’m quite sure she sat and talked to a lot of people on the bus whether she knew them or not.”
