The apartment construction site that caught fire Friday night is still burning, and officials from the Denver Fire Department confirmed the building will be demolished. A firefighter whose shoulder was injured on the scene is recovering, and there are no signs that anyone died in the fire.
Meanwhile, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will help Denver officials investigate the fire. It’s not unusual for the ATF to join in the investigation of a large fire, which can be difficult for local agencies to manage.
“We're really happy with this federal partnership. We're hoping that we can get this community back in service, get people back to their lives and the sooner that we can really get to the cause of this fire and get some direction, that team will greatly help us,” said Robert Murphy, DFD division chief, at a press conference Tuesday.
Demolishing the building is a top priority, Murphy said, for local and federal officials, because it will allow firefighters to put out the last hot spots on the 5-acre property. The Harker Heights project was nearing completion, with windows, signage and siding already installed, but appears to be a total loss.
Demolition “will do us a lot of good. It will stop most of that smoke and fire stuff that's happening that we can't get to. It will open up lanes of traffic here on Leetsdale,” he said. “It'll start bringing some closure to the neighborhood so they can start being normal again. So very much it's on the top of my radar to have this building brought down.”
Several spots are still smoldering within the building off of Leetsdale Drive and South Forest Street. Firefighters have used about 18 million gallons of water to fight the fire, which was one of the largest in decades for Denver.
The fire heavily damaged the building, making it dangerous for firefighters to go inside, Murphy said. Murphy said they will keep putting out smaller fires while they wait for the building's demolition.
“Denver Fire has had a constant presence here from the outset of the fire. We have never left this building,” Murphy said. “We have had Denver firefighters here watching over taking care of this building and we will continue to do that until the investigation's complete and we hand this off.”
There is no sign anyone was killed in the fire, he added. The fire department used dogs to search for human remains and found no trace. “They spent hours and hours running through that open pit and I'm happy to say at this point there was nothing found by those dogs and they're very good at what they do,” he said.
Dogs trained to search for fire accelerants — such as gasoline — similarly found nothing.
The apartment project was slated for four floors and 283 units, according to city records. More than 150 firefighters responded to the fire Friday night, and responding agencies included South Metro Fire, the Denver Police Department and Aurora Fire Rescue.
As of Tuesday, traffic on Leetsdale was still limited to one lane in each direction. However, businesses nearby are reopening and fire officials are cutting back on the barriers and yellow tape around the building. The area is much safer than it was after the fire, Murphy added.
“It just wasn't healthy to walk around here in a bunch of smoke,” Murphy said. “That's been so diminished that as long as they stay away from the building, stay across the street, I don't think there's an issue with that.”
