Investigators Search For Arsonist In Apartment Fire
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- Three families are out of their homes after an early morning fire Friday destroyed their homes. Investigators believe the apartments were set on fire on purpose.
The fire was set just after 2 a.m. at the Windsor Court Apartments on Joliet in Aurora.
Investigators told CBS4 they suspected arson because of the way the fire spread, in a line around the building that could only have been started by some kind of accelerant.
What they don't know is why someone started the fire in the first place.
Safi Osma and his family were upstairs asleep in their second story apartment when the fire started.
"I had my baby in my hand and my wife she knocked on doors and then we ran out," said Osma.
Osma said he smelled smoke and when he looked outside he saw a strip of fire alongside the building. When asked if he was scared, he replied, "Of course, we ran out for life."
Three families, a total of seven people. were displaced by the fire. A large population of Somalian natives live in the apartment complex. Aurora Fire investigators don't know if the people who live there are being targeted.
"It was along the side walls. It was adjacent to the windows of numerous apartments. So, I can't say if it was targeting one person or the building itself," said Aurora Fire Department Allen Robnett.
Fire investigators said some fire did get inside the walls of the apartment. Some of the damage was caused by firefighters trying to extinguish the flames.
Police have a vague description of the suspect, a white man about 5-foot-10.
