Floor caves in during Colo. house party, then fire breaks out
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. -- A fire tore through a home near Regis University after dozens of people fell through a floor that caved in during a house party, CBS Denver reports.
A gas leak is believed to have sparked the fire.
Neighbors heard an explosion.
“It sounded like an earthquake, or like a bomb or something. It was crazy,” said Sawyer Lincoln, a Regis student who lives in the next unit over.
The late-night party ended abruptly when the condominium structure apparently couldn’t hold the 150-plus partygoers, many who were dancing inside.
“Everybody was just jumping up and down, kind of having a good time. You don’t expect that that’s going to happen,” said Angelo Regalia, another Regis student who was at the party in the kitchen when the floor started shaking.
“You just hear the floor just snap,” said Regalia. “And just everybody kind of falls through. You can smell the gas leak right away.”
Lincoln helped pull people out from under the collapsed floor.
“When we walked over there and saw that there was like 20 or 30 people that had fallen through the floor, and more that were climbing out -- you either leave or help. And I just decided to help,” Lincoln said. “I’m glad no one was hurt.”
Fire broke out a short time later and raged through the home.
Two surrounding units bordering the party condo were also damaged.
Residents did not know when they would be able to move back in.
“Where it exploded was next to my wall about two feet away,” Lincoln said. “So I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of water damage.”
CBS Denver requested information from Adams County Fire Rescue. As of Sunday evening, there was no word on what officially caused the collapse and the fire, nor if there were any code violations in the building.
No injuries were reported.
