Updated 12:30 a.m. Jan. 4:
Fire control efforts continued through Saturday at the smoldering site of a partially complete apartment complex in southeast Denver.
Denver Fire said 156 firefighters from multiple departments were on scene Friday night, but the fire spread rapidly "due to the stage of construction." The cause is under investigation.
All evacuations have been lifted and the firefighter who was taken to the hospital with minor injuries has since been released.
The nearby Jewish Community Center will be close through Sunday due to smoke intrusion in some of its facilities.
The original story continues below:
More than 100 firefighters battled a five alarm blaze Friday evening as it tore through a three-story apartment complex under construction in southeast Denver, officials said.
Firefighters were continuing to work to extinguish the blaze more than two hours after it started, said Robert Murphy, division chief of operations for Denver Fire. The department said one firefighter was transported to Denver Health with injuries
“It's major," he said. "I can't tell you the last time in Denver we had a ... fire this big.”
Denver Fire upgraded the blaze to the highest level of severity, five-alarm, shortly before 10 p.m.
The building is at Leetsdale Dr. and S. Forest St., on the border with Glendale. Leetsdale was closed in both directions Friday night to assist with firefighting.
Some residents of a nearby apartment building were advised to evacuate because of the heat radiating off the fire, Murphy said.
The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a post on X that the fire has caused “significant power outages." Officials have opened a temporary overnight shelter at the Glendale Event Center to help anyone displaced or without power.
