DENVER — More than a week after a fire burned through an apartment complex in Denver, a fence still surrounds the building as firefighters continue their investigation.
A dozen families at the TAVA Waters complex on Mississippi Avenue remain displaced, including Gilbert Torres and his wife and two children.
“It’s pretty devastating,” said Gilbert. “It’s just a really hard time for me and my family.”
Gilbert said they were in for another surprise when the apartment complex told them they wouldn’t be receiving any assistance from them.
His wife, Serena Torres, said they pay an extra $14 a month in rent for renters insurance, which they assumed would cover them from something catastrophic like this.
“How it was explained to us was you can either get your own insurance, or you can use ours,” said Serena. “So, we were like OK well to make it easy, we’ll use yours.”
“Their policy, the insurance we were paying for renters insurance only covers them, and not us,” added Gilbert.
He said it’s a warning for others at the complex and for renters in general to read the fine print, and to make sure you’re covered in the event of something like a fire.
“You could end up in our situation and be not fully covered,” said Gilbert. “I think this is just crazy that you’re paying to reimburse just them, and get their stuff fixed, but nothing to help us out.”
Gilbert’s daughter Alexis uses a wheelchair to get around and said TAVA Waters has been unable to move them to another ADA accessible unit. In the meantime, they’re sleeping on a family member’s living room floor.
They’ve set up a fundraiser to try and find a place to live, and to replace what was lost in the fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
TAVA Waters did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday morning.
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