Photos tweeted by the Denver Police Department show cars that were charred and melted by the sheer heat of a fire that broke out a construction site near downtown Wednesday afternoon.
Denver Fire Department spokesperson Greg Pixley said 40 cars were demolished by the blaze.
The nearest car was 100 feet away, Pixley said, and heat from the fire could be felt as far as a football field away from where it broke out near 18th Avenue and Emerson Street.
Two people were unaccounted for immediately following the blaze, but one of their bodies was found hours after the initial fire, Pixley said during a late afternoon press conference.
One person was critically injured, and four people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
A firefighter was also hurt, Pixley said.
What caused the fire remains under investigation.
People across Denver could see the plume of smoke from the blaze, which rose 200 feet into the air.
