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At least one person and a firefighter were injured in what Aurora Fire Rescue described as a "gas-fired structure fire" at the Heather Gardens in Aurora on Friday night.
Both have life-threatening injuries, according to Lieutenant Laure Bridges with Aurora Fire Rescue. The fire is "under control", tweeted the fire department.
According to the Aurora Police, East Yale Avenue is closed between Interstate 225 and South Cimarron Street. Abeline heading south is also closed to East Harvard. They asked the drivers to avoid going to this area and made it clear that there was no scheduled reopening time.
The fire was reported at East Linvale Place, according to a tweet from Aurora Fire Rescue.
At a press conference Friday evening, Mr. Bridges said the fire was being fueled by gas escaping from a gas line in the area. fire. She could not confirm that it was like that the fire had started.
The bridges indicated that AFD had initially been sent to Heather Gardens after reporting a gas leak.
"What I do know is that there was some sort of construction, they smelled a smell of gasoline and called 911 for us to answer," Bridges said. "When we arrived, there was almost an explosion and a fire."
The bridges indicated that there were four units in a group involved in the fire and that "more units" have been involved since then.
"They suffered other damage because of the explosion," she said.
The bridges described the fire as a "gas-fired fire".
RELATED | An email warned residents of Heather Gardens of "big gas leaks" a few days before the fire
All homes in the area with gas supply lines have been evacuated, said Bridges.
Residents of Heather Gardens were warned of a "major gas leak" on the property two days before the blast and fire tonight. An email sent Wednesday to locals warned them not to "light matches, lighters, candles or use anything that could spark a spark."
Firefighters are searching the area surrounding the blast and the fire and continue to carry out firefighting activities, APD said in a tweet. Gas in the area was closed, affecting all residents in the immediate area, Bridges said.
The video shared by a 9NEWS player shows what appears to be big flames. Nancy Lisenbigler lives nearby and says that what happened shook her whole house.
"Suddenly, my big French window and my big patio door made me think of a sound explosion or a kind of explosion," she said. "It shook the whole door, it never happened."
According to Aurora police, emergency responders went door to door trying to get people out of these units.
The evacuees were taken to the community clubhouse located at 2888 S Heather Gardens Way, a neighborhood community far enough from the fire to be safe, Aurora police said.
Bridges said the Red Cross had been called to the clubhouse. Any displaced resident may call the club at 303-751-1811 and will inform residents if they can return home.
Many viewers contacted 9NEWS to report a smell of gas in the area before the fire.
"I went out into the yard and I could smell gas," said a viewer who introduced himself as Coco. "I went back and called my neighbor next door to tell him:" Get out in the garden and see if you smell gas. " He went there – we went to the store – and he said, "I smell something, I do not know if it's gas." "
Mark Stutz, a spokesperson for Xcel Energy, said the company was called at 5:30 pm. regarding a gas leak and possible explosion. He added that Xcel Energy workers were not present until they were contacted at 5:30 pm.
According to Bridges, some fire crews will remain on the scene overnight to ensure that there will be no flare ups.
Heather Gardens is an age-limited community, less than 2 km from I-225 and Cherry Creek State Park.
© 2018 KUSA-TV
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