Almost 300 residents evacuated from a burning and smoke filled Aurora apartment complex waited Sunday to see if asbestos contamination will keep them from retrieving their possessions.
Anxious residents huddled in small groups outside the sealed buildings, discussing an uncertain future.
“This has been a nightmare for a lot of people,” said Luanna Soria, who has stayed with a friend since the fire early Saturday forced evacuation of three buildings at the Fairways at Lowry complex on 1st Avenue.
Fire officials believe that an arsonist used an accelerant to cause the fire that began in the hallway of one building.
Smoke from the blaze poured through breezeways that had been left open into two other buildings. Four people suffered minor injuries.
All three buildings are locked down as tests are taken to determine if hazardous materials are present.
Alarms in the buildings didn’t work, residents said.
Monce Viveros, 17, and her brother, Ulises, 14, said smoke in their hallway was so thick they could barely see as they fled.
Aurora firefighters had to use ladders to rescue some residents in the three story buildings, said Capt. Allen Robnett.
“On the third floor, I saw guys with their babies hanging out the windows because their apartments were full of smoke,” Monce Viveros said.
The management company is performing air quality tests to determine if the buildings have been contaminated with asbestos, Robnett said.
Residents were briefly allowed into their homes to retrieve only wallets, cell phones and chargers, according to some residents.
A number of residents said they are concerned that they will lose most, if not all of their possessions.
Residents have been told that asbestos can get caught in clothing, TV sets, computers and other items.
“We can’t go to school, we don’t have clothes, shoes, anything,” Monce Viveros said.
She said residents won’t know until Monday if they can retrieve their possessions.
Apartment Management Consultants, the management company at the complex, is working with other affiliated properties to get apartments for those displaced, said a woman who works for AMC and gave only the name Stephanie.
“We are trying to assist them to get into other apartment communities and should be able to accommodate the majority of them,” Stephanie said.
Shauntah Jones, 24, said AMC has arranged an apartment nearby for her and her family and they should be able to move in Sunday evening.
Jones and her husband, Robert Bevis, 29, were asleep with their three month old son, Kurt, when a fire fighter pounded on their door to alert them to the danger. “It was pretty scary,” she said.
A Red Cross shelter is open at the Lowry Heights Gym, 8000 E. 12th Ave., said Patricia Billinger, Red Cross spokeswoman.
Displaced residents can also call the Red Cross at (303)722-7474 for help. “When we know that clothing is lost we will work with them to find other resources,” Billinger said.
Tom McGhee: (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
