Fire that damaged 2 homes in southwest Denver likely the result of a mechanical malfunction

Fire ripped through two homes in Denver's Grant Ranch neighborhood on Friday.

That fire in the 5800 block of South Harlan Street appeared to start in an area on the south side of one of the homes and investigators said that early indications did not point to fireworks as a cause but, more likely, were the result of some kind of malfunction and not intentional. Still, neighbors were shocked by its size and destruction.

"Oh, it was massive," young neighbor Noelle Cain said. "You saw the flames coming through the windows."

Thick orange flames blew up between the two homes.

One family was out of town. People in the other home and a dog were all able to get out safely. Both homes are heavily damaged.

The fire happened on the same block as a fire that did heavy damage last November, only two houses away.

"I thought, 'this cannot be.' And then how quickly it went up and then it was out of control," said Corleen DaCorte, who lives in a home between the two fires along with her husband Greg Haywood.

"To have two separate events within 50 yards," Haywood mused.

There is still some disbelief that two house fires would have burned three homes around them within nine months.

"Isn't a house fire kind of unusual anyway?" DaCorte asked.

The previous fire last November was an arson. A former resident of that home was arrested and convicted in the case. There is no suggestion Friday's fire is in any way related to the previous one.

The house DaCorta and Haywood share was damaged in the previous fire.

This time, she went outside and pulled out a hose to see what she might do to stop the new fire. But it was already too big. Their house in the middle of all the trouble was not damaged, but once again, the smell of fire was thick in the air of the neighborhood.

"We feel very lucky," Haywood said. "Very blessed to still have a place to come home too."