A mudslide in Wheat Ridge on Saturday morning caused 10 residents to evacuate a duplex at 6985 and 6987 W. 48th Ave., according to Wheat Ridge police.
“It was a little after 6 a.m. and we hear what sounds like the ocean when there is a strong storm,” said Elena Guzman, whose family rents one side of the duplex.
Guzman and husband, Noah, noticed the tree in the backyard was falling over and the startled couple jumped out of bed to investigate.
“You don’t expect to see that kind of thing,” she said.
The duplex had experienced low water pressure since Wednesday and it appears a pipe in the duplex’s sprinkler system may have broken, causing the nearby land, which sits on a slope above a nearby greenbelt to become saturated and shift, she said.
No one was injured and the building itself wasn’t damaged, said Wheat Ridge Police Cmdr. J.D. Jepkema.
A Red Cross Disaster Action Team responded and the Guzmans, who have four daughters and are originally from Kansas, accepted an offer to stay at an area hotel.
“A huge shout out to the Red Cross. They do care,” Guzman said.
Jepkema said the homeowners of the duplex had an engineer inspect the property and decided to return.
“He deemed the place to be OK,” said Jepkema, but added water to the property remains shut off.
No gas leaks were found and no roads or public paths were involved, Jepkema said.
