Loved ones remember vibrant Denver artist killed in house fire

DENVER — Loved ones are remembering Jessica McMillan, a local artist and welder, as "full of light and love and laughter" after she died in a house fire in Denver earlier this month .

McMillan, 31, died after the fire broke out at the house, near W. 6th Avenue and Utica Street, in the early morning hours of July 7. The Denver Fire Department said its crews were at the scene at 3:15 a.m. and removed one person from the home. On Thursday, the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner identified her as McMillan, and said the cause and manner of her death is pending.

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The Denver Fire Department said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Denver7 spoke with one of McMillan's roommates, Caricia Janus, who said four friends were living in the home at the time of the fire.

Janus and McMillan — both painters — met at an event in 2021. From the minute they started talking, McMillan was "just full of light and love and laughter" and they became close friends, Janus said.

When the four people all moved into the house together, they quickly became a family with "a beautiful synchronicity between all of us," Janus said.

"As soon as we moved in together, it was like we were sisters," she said of her friendship with McMillan. "She really, truly became one of my best friends."

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Janus was in Wyoming visiting family in early July and said she woke up on July 7 to a few missed calls and texts. When she got in touch with one of her roommates, he broke the news to her.

"I still relive that moment over and over again," she said.

McMillan was the only person home at the time, along with her dog and cat.

Janus said a neighbor, whom they had not met, apparently ran into the house to try to put out the fire. But the thick smoke pushed him out. She said she believed the neighbor was able to let the dog out of the house and the cat was missing for about a day and a half before a roommate found it.

"She loved those pets so much," Janus said. "They were her babies and I don't know how they survived, but they did... I was so grateful that they were found."

GoFundMe

The emotional toll comes in waves now, she said.

"I'm kind of just taking it minute by minute, breath by breath," Janus said. "It's truly hard to comprehend what we all just went through. We lost everything in an instant. We lost our best friend. We lost our house. We lost all of our belongings. So it has been really hard. She was so beautiful. She's so full of life. She was ready to live it completely and fully. She was so talented and loving and supportive."

McMillan wanted to help others live life to the fullest.

"We found her gratitude journal that she started writing in," Janus said. "Her last entry on the third was 'My life is full of abundance. I appreciate every blessing, no matter how small.' And we have all taken that to heart. Staying strong for her. Taking this and turning it into something powerful."

Friends have launched a fundraiser for the three roommates to help them start over and pay for vet bills.

Click here if you'd like to help.

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