Fire In Littleton Kills One Man On His 70th Birthday
LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - Authorities announced late Saturday one man died in an senior living facility fire in Littleton on Saturday. The victim was identified as Michael Mitchell, who died on his 70th birthday.
CBS4 learned the deadly blaze was the second fire at the same complex in less than three years.
Just after 5 a.m. Saturday, firefighters rushed to the senior living complex where the fire broke out in a first floor apartment.
In one unit, a resident jumped off his balcony to escape the flames and suffered serious injuries.
In another unit, Monica Seay, who is deaf and could not hear the alarm, was trapped on her balcony before firefighters could rescue her.
Monica was among dozens of people forced out of their homes and who were not allowed to return until at least Monday due to poor air quality from smoke.
Jayne Cole, who also lives in the building, knew there was a fire before most did.
"There was already smoke just starting," she told CBS4's Melissa Garcia. "So I started banging on doors telling people, hollering, 'fire, get out, fire!'"
RELATED: Mother, Daughter Reunited At Senior Living Complex After CBS4 Interview
It was not the first time the complex has been ablaze. A bigger fire there in April of 2016 displaced more than one-hundred residents.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
