As smoke and flames shot from the windows of the Federal View Apartments late Sunday night, bewildered residents gathered outside only to hear the piercing screams of a woman on the third floor. “Grab my baby!” she yelled through the sounds of shattering glass and rushing air. “Grab my baby!” Out from the top floors — one by one — people jumped for safety through a thick, black haze. And then, witnesses say, the woman began tossing out young children.
Patrons from an adjacent 7-Eleven and a homeless man who had made his camp nearby came to try to catch the kids, according to bystanders. One young boy was unconscious and blackened by smoke and burns.
“It was ugly,” said Jorge Hernandez, who was rescued from his second-floor apartment by firefighters.
Eleven people were hospitalized — two in critical condition — near the intersection of West 26th Avenue and Federal Boulevard. Authorities say the cause of the two-alarm blaze, which began on the third and top floor, remains under investigation.
One resident, Jesus Perea, said he heard a muffled explosion, screams and pounding before fire alarms began sounding about 9:15 p.m.
Another person called 911 to report what sounded like fighting as flames spread through the top floors.
“I don’t have anything at this point that it is suspicious in nature,” said Melissa Taylor, spokeswoman for the Denver Fire Department, adding that the building has been turned over to the property manager.
Nine people were admitted to Denver Health, five in fair condition, two in serious condition and one in critical condition, said hospital spokeswoman Kayla Vigil. By Monday afternoon, one person remained at the hospital in critical condition.
Another critically injured person was transferred to University of Colorado Hospital, Vigil said.
Most of the injuries were caused by smoke inhalation, officials say.
The Red Cross said it is assisting 11 people who were displaced from six units in the building, which houses low-income residents, many of whom are older.
“There were people coming everywhere trying to help,” said Antoinetta Brionez, who returned to the building Monday morning wearing a hospital visitor sticker and clad in her pajamas from the night before.
Brionez said her mother and sister, who live in the building, were injured in the blaze, with the latter suffering broken bones from jumping out a window.
Brionez lives nearby and rushed over after hearing about the fire. Her mother passed out from smoke and was rescued by firefighters.
“He was just blackened,” Brionez said of one of the children thrown from a window.
The apartment building is roughly a half-block from a Denver Fire Department station, which allowed rescuers to arrive quickly.
“People are jumping out of the windows to get to safety,” a dispatcher told emergency responders, according to police radio traffic archived on Broadcastify.com.
“It’s kind of crazy up here right now,” one firefighter called into his radio.
“We’re pulling people out of this place!” another said.
Miguel Davila said his mother-in-law suffered second-degree burns to her arms. He said she and her husband were startled by the blaze.
“They didn’t even know what happened,” he said. Davila said the woman remains hospitalized.
Joey Pacheco said he saw a father trying to crawl back in the burning building to rescue his infant children. He said firefighters tackled the father but later rescued the babies.
Firefighters largely had snuffed the flames by 9:40 p.m.
RTD sent an empty bus to the building to keep all the evacuated residents warm.
Gene and Rosalie Ramirez went to Denver Health to be there when their infant grandson arrived. Their son had told them how the boy’s mother jumped from the second floor.
“He thinks she might have broken her back,” Gene Ramirez said.
Residents said Monday they were not allowed back in their apartments and hadn’t been told when they could return. Many stood outside to share tearful hugs and stories of escape as a burnt smell lingered in the air.
Joseph Pacheco Jr., who evacuated with his father, Joey, said he was shaken by the blaze but is thankful damage wasn’t worse.
As he sat in a pickup outside the charred building Monday, he flipped through photos of the fire on his cellphone.
“Most people got out,” he said.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @jesseapaul
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell contributed to this report.
