AURORA, Colo — Firefighters were called out to the area of East Mississippi Avenue and South Elkhart Way for a report of a two-alarm fire on a three-story apartment building Friday afternoon.
Aurora Fire Rescue (AFR) crews saw smoke in the area and headed towards the intersection of S. Elkhart Way and S. Evanston Way around 2:45 p.m.
When firefighters arrived to the apartment complex, there were flames coming from the roof of a multi-family structure. Heavy damage could be seen to the roof of the building.
One resident, Alex Cruz, said he saw the fire start on the balcony of an apartment two stories above his, and it spread within a matter of minutes.
"I was coughing like so bad because of how bad it was it had expanded at that point," said Cruz.
AFR said a total of 15 crews spent hours trying to put out the fire that rose ten feet above the roofline. The added challenges of the 102-degree weather and a water main break made it even more difficult.
The entire building that housed 23 units is now uninhabitable, AFR said nearly 50 tenants have been displaced. American Red Cross was on-scene helping the residents find temporary housing, and gather their items and critical documents. AFR also said they will help to support affected residents throughout the night.
No injuries were reported, but one firefighter was treated on-scene for heat exhaustion.
"You see our fire crews wearing protective clothing, that's equivalent to wearing a snow coat and snow pants and then going outside to 100-degree weather and then... doing heavy work inside of a building that's already caught fire. So you can imagine the stress that these guys are under," said Shannon Hardi, Aurora Fire public information officer.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. 9NEWS will provide updates as information becomes available.