'You Could Barely See Her': Firefighter Describes Rescuing Resident During Pre-Dawn Fire
LAKEWOOD, Colo.(CBS4) - West Metro Fire Rescue says 28 people have been displaced following an early morning fire at an older adult living facility in Lakewood.
The fire began just after 4 a.m. Friday at the Brookdale Meridian Lakewood building, located at 1805 South Balsam Street, a few blocks away from the intersection of West Jewell Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard.
"When they [firefighters] got here the roof was already involved- they could see smoke and flames coming from Jewell as they turned the corner to come into the parking lot," said Ronda Scholting, Public Information Officer for West Metro Fire Rescue.
Scholting said the main priority was saving lives and that fire crews wasted no time.
"They were helped because once they hit the parking lot here, the resident who was in her unit still was at a window yelling at firefighters that she was in there," said Scholting.
Firefighter Lee Maulsby and his chief rushed to the woman who was shouting from the third floor. Once they broke down the door, they found her unit filled with smoke.
"The smoke was banked down all the way to the floor, you could barely see her feet if you were standing," said Maulsby.
Maulsby said she was on the ground, crawling, doing exactly what she was supposed to do to avoid the smoke, but she had a pet she refused to leave behind.
"She said, 'You have to get my bird, you have to get my bird,' and I said, 'Well where is it?' and she had her hands on the cage and she wouldn't let it go and I said, 'You have to let it go, we gotta go' and she said 'Not without my bird' so I literally picked her up and did the fireman's carry- put her on my shoulder," he said.
Maulsby promised her he would return for the bird- and he did. While the woman had to be hospitalized, her injuries were non-life threatening and the bird, a parakeet, was unharmed.
Scholting said the woman's family came to take care of the bird.
The fire was put out by firefighters before daybreak. A preliminary assessment showed the building has 7 units with significant damage — 2 with direct fire damage and the rest have water damage.
CBS4 was told the facility stepped up to help those displaced who don't have family to assist, looking at nearby hotels or other senior facilities with space.
Maulsby says it was thanks to an immediate coordinated response that everyone was safely evacuated and that the fire didn't spread further.
"The officers did a great job calling additional units right away because they knew that residents would need that extra level of help," he said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.