Colorado three-alarm fire causes heavy damage at Aurora construction site

A three-alarm fire at a construction site in southeast Aurora overnight into Thursday morning caused major damage to apartment buildings that were being constructed. No one was hurt.  

It happened in the area of the 7300 block of South Addison Court. That's just east of E-470 not far from Aurora Parkway, and the northbound lanes E-470 were closed while firefighters battled the fire.

Officials from Aurora Fire Rescue said they were hindered in battling the blaze by construction equipment which they had to move out of the way in places. Also, a lack of fire hydrants in the area added to the challenges in fighting the fire, which was proving difficult in the freezing temperatures. 

"Once cold weather just slipping around down there just getting hosed lines into service, the fire pumps themselves obviously have water inside them. It's a constant battle to keep water moving, water flowing through there so nothing stays stagnant for too long because you can end up with pumps freezing or hose lines freezing," said Andrew Logan with Aurora Fire Rescue. 

There were also other issues at the construction site, including some unfinished utility lines. 

"They were actively releasing, and that is what they are supposed to do so they don't blow. So, they were actively releasing gas, so they said initially they had to get a hose line on it to begin cooling it so it doesn't blow. If it does blow it becomes a very big deal, potentially catastrophically dangerous," said Logan. 

So far there's no word on what caused the fire. Aurora fire officials called ATF to help with the investigation so heavy equipment can be used to find the origin and cause of the fire.