BOULDER — Friends and neighbors of the toddler killed in a fire this week gathered Wednesday to leave flowers and notes outside the charred remains of the mobile home in Boulder Meadows where the boy died.
Even as caution tape surrounded the home and a Boulder police officer monitored the area as the investigation into the fire continued, a small memorial for the boy — identified by friends as Alex Jimenez — began to form Wednesday morning.
The Boulder County coroner’s office confirmed that a Latino toddler, about age 2, was killed in the trailer in the 4900 block of 19th Street after the home caught fire at 10:25 a.m. Tuesday.
All available Boulder firefighters — 35 total — responded to the fire, but the trailer was a total loss, as was a car next to it.
A neighboring trailer was damaged.
At this point, no cause has been identified, but Boulder Fire Department officials said it appears to have started on the east side of the house.
Boulder police said two other people were hospitalized after the fire, and neighbors and friends said the two people were the boy’s mother, Jess, and another boy, Jayden. The extent of their injuries was not known.
Looking over the scene Wednesday, neighbor Harmony Johnson said she remembers loud banging sounds, but because it was trash day, she initially thought it was trucks. But then her dog started barking, and she went outside to see the fire.
“It was really terrifying,” Johnson said. “The flames were 30 to 40 feet high.”
Johnson said she saw neighbors trying to break into the trailer and put out the flames when they found out the toddler was trapped inside, but the flames were too much.
“We were all standing around feeling so helpless,” Johnson said. “It was horrible.”
Neighbor Kelsey Kempfer said she would always see the toddler out on the street with his grandfather.
“Since the day that child was born, they were always out there,” Kempfer said.
Johnson said the neighborhood is trying to organize some sort of candlelight vigil in the next few days for the family, and Kempfer has started an online fund for the family.
Frank Goodard, who lives nearby, said he would always give the kids candy when he saw them biking or walking around outside.
“They were good neighbors,” Goodard said. “It’s a terrible loss.”
