Neighbors devastated after Fourth of July house fires

DENVER (KDVR) — Fires sparked across the metro on the night of the Fourth of July, including in residential areas of Denver.

A fire at 52nd and Altura in the Montbello neighborhood destroyed two homes and left community members devastated.

The Denver Fire Department is still investigating what caused the fire that burned these two houses. Community members in this neighborhood were still in disbelief on Friday that the holiday led to this destruction.

Hellian Robinson was in Montbello celebrating the Fourth of July, his daughter’s birthday and his grandson’s graduation when the unthinkable happened on Thursday night.

“There were a lot of fireworks going off but about the time, a little bit before the fire started, it was pretty quiet. We were sitting in the driveway, and we saw smoke. So we — me and my daughter and my grandson — we walked down here, and when we got to this house it was only the fence that was on fire,” Robinson said.

‘I felt so helpless’ as home destroyed in fire

Despite Robinson and his family springing into action, the fire was already underway. He said they did what they could to help his daughter’s neighbors as their home became emblazoned.

“The wind was blowing also. So we got on the phone with 911. We got on hold, the operator had us on hold for about seven minutes. We were just watching. So we started knocking on this door to get people out, we were knocking actually on both doors. It took about five minutes for this house to actually open up,” Robinson said.

Robinson said he was able to help a family get out of one house. The other house belongs to Maria Garcia, who was not home when the fire broke out.

“I wasn’t here, I was out of town. I was in El Paso, and then the neighbors reached out through my Ring camera on my door. It rang and it rang. And so, I opened the Ring camera, and I saw my neighbor’s house burning,” Garcia said in Spanish.

The destruction left Garcia heartbroken as she watched her home of 24 years go up in flames.

“When I opened the camera and saw the fire finish burning the house and coming towards my house, I felt so helpless because I was so far, and I couldn’t do anything to help, talk to the firefighters or nothing,” Garcia said.

Garcia’s family started a GoFundMe to help her following the fire.

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