Officials estimate 50 to 60 residents evacuated
Vyga Kaufmann and her friend woke up to the sound of a fire alarm Friday morning at her apartment in the Gold Run complex at the 28th Frontage Rd. and Colorado Avenue.
“We just watched – we were like, ‘oh my god,'” Kaufmann, a doctoral candidate in psychology said.
Kaufmann said the fire started in a bottom unit and quickly spread to the third floor. Other students described seeing a column of flames over their apartments.
Kaufman said it took about three hours for the fire to be contained.
“(My friend) put his contacts in and I grabbed my computer and we got out,” Kaufmann said.
Other students who live nearby said they had family and friends calling them at 6 a.m. to see if they were safe.
Police spokeswoman Julie Brooks said that authorities have conducted a primary search of the complex for people trapped inside, but that the east side is still too unstable to conduct a secondary search.
At roughly 2:45 a.m. a fire was reported at the housing development, burning through a building composed of 36 total housing units, split between two wings of 18 units.
The 2800 wing of the building retained varying degrees of smoke and water damage. The other, 2802, has been officially reported uninhabitable.
Fire investigators are currently attempting to discover the cause of the blaze, though as of yet there are no speculations.
“It’s too soon to tell the cause of the fire,” Brooks said. “We have investigators on scene trying to determine the orgin.”
The student status of the victims has not yet been confirmed, but there is a large student population at the complex.
Kaufmann said the response from CU and the community has been outstanding.
“There was such a fantastic community outreach,” Kaufmann said. “They had victim’s assistance from CU, and the Red Cross was there too. The response was overwhelming while we sat there and watched our home burn.”
CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard is encouraging students who live in the complex to go directly to the Health Club at Gold Run to check in with CU and the Red Cross who are being housed there.
Hilliard said that students affected by the fire will receive five days of food vouchers through CU Dining Services. CU will also use the Student Recreation Center to provide lodging for students without anywhere to go.
Hilliard also said students need to make sure to call their family to let them know they’re safe.
Officials estimate that 50 to 60 residents were evacuated from the complex.
Although the cause of the fire is unclear, Kaufmann said she has heard rumors about incense or hookah pipes sparking the flames. She said she thought propane tanks on the bottom unit could have fueled the fire.
Kaufmann and her friend say that they think their condo has extensive water damage.
“Our place will probably be condemned,” Kaufmann said.
Kaufmann and her friend said that an unnamed CU student who was leaving Silver Mine Subs across the street saw the flames early in the morning and started pounding on people’s doors.
Kaufmann says that he was the one responsible for getting people out of the condos.
“The one thing he said to us was ‘what if I didn’t walk by?'” Kaufmann said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Katherine Spencer at Katherine.a.spencer@thecampuspress.com
Staff Writer Sara Fossum and Copy Editor Jimmy Himes contributed to this report.
