AURORA — A fire at an Aurora housing complex this morning raced from one unit to another through open balcony doors.
The fire started about 10:25 a.m. at 12285 E. Alameda Ave., said Capt. Allen Robnett. Officials later determined the fire was caused by a pan left unattended on a stove in one of the units.
Three units were gutted and another seven deemed uninhabitable.
The American Red Cross Mile High Chapter will open a shelter at 7 p.m. today at South Middle School, 12310 E. Parkview Dr., Aurora, to assist residents displaced by the blaze.
No one was injured in the fire, but at least three families will likely be displaced. Damage from the blaze is estimated at approximately $250,000.
Eleven-year-old Efrate Dejene said her father tried to quickly gather some documents before fleeing their third-story apartment, but the fire spread too quickly.
“I was scared — we just grabbed my little sister and we ran out,” Dejene said. “There is nothing left for us to take.”
A person who called to report the fire said it started in a kitchen of one of the units, Robnett said.
Firefighters used ladders to rescue three people from the burning three-story building before the fire was put out.
Charles Polich, 65, was among the people rescued by ladder.
“My smoke alarm went off and woke me up,” Polich said. “I opened the door and ‘Holy Toledo!’ there was the smoke.”
Polich retreated to his apartment and put a towel over his head and contemplated making a dash down the stairs from his second-floor apartment to safety.
But he looked out the door again and saw flames shooting from the side, above and below.
“I said ‘No way!'” Polich recalled.
Firefighters quickly arrived and took Polich down a ladder.
“I didn’t panic, I didn’t get scared,” he said.
The Red Cross Mile High Chapter is at the scene assisting victims of the fire.
Officials on Monday evening estimated damage from the blaze at $250,000.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
