Thread by @shayshinecastle

NRV addressing the Pearl Street fire this morning. 83 units burnt. denverpost.com/2021/10/19/bou…

No serious injuries reported. Fire Chief Mike Calderazzo speaking now on it. It's being called an apartment fire, which maybe that's the term when it comes to fires. But these are technically condos.

Not that it matters. Fire is fire. Homes are homes.

Started around 3 a.m., Calderazzo says. 40+ families "in bed at home" at this time in the morning. "If it wasn't for our firefighters and police officers, it could have been much, much worse."

No casualties. Cops helped wake folks up, Calderazzo says, knocking on doors. Families were assisted at police HQ.

"It is a sprinklered building, but the fire got above the sprinklers" and burnt the roofs, Calderazzo says.

Calderazzo: Of all the owners/occupants, only 4 owners not accounted for. "We're not even sure they're there or if they had occupants" in those units.

"We were not able to adequately search the first 2 buildings," Calderazzo says, bc the first 4 buildings "had some pretty sizeable collapses. We were worried about putting folks in those structures if we didn't have to."

So the no casualty thing is still pending, I guess.

"No serious injuries were reported, even though we had some people who had to jump from second-story balconies," Calderazzo says.

Police drones were used to search structures where it was unsafe for people to go.

Some pets unaccounted for, though.

"When we have an opportunity to get back into the structure," Calderazzo says, "we'll certainly be looking for" any missing pets.

Investigation into the cause has already begun, but not much headway yet since FF were putting out "hot spots" through this afternoon.

Possible answers coming tomorrow or the day after, Calderazzo says.

Brockett: How can we and the public help displaced persons? How can we donate or volunteer?

Red Cross is the main org. "Helping them helps everyone," Calderazzo says.
redcross.org/donate or call 1-800-435-7669 or text 90999

NRV: They're not taking clothing donations, bc of COVID, but you can give $$.

Wallach: Any sense of how badly the buildings have been damaged? Can they be reconstructed? Or do they need torn down?

Calderazzo: The first 4 buildings were heavily damaged, but the way that building is constructed, there are some fundamentals in there that are probably OK. But there's a lot of water damage.

"If the bones are still good, yes, but my guess is the v top of that building for sure is def going to need heavy rehab. Idk about the rest of it."

Wallach: What types of assistance can the city provide for displaced residents?
NRV: We're letting the Red Cross take the lead on that right now. They're doing immediate needs. We'll keep in contact with them and let you know.

Young: What kind of shelter are the displaced folks going to be receiving?
Calderazzo: Quite a few people had another place to go.
NRV: The Red Cross didn't mention that anyone needed immediate accommodations, but they're providing whatever anyone needs.

Swetlik: We don't have v many large structural fires. Were we well resourced enough to handle this fire, along with anything else that was going on at the same time?

Calderazzo: "I think we did." Cooperative agreements with surrounding communities helped, too; they provided cover when every Boulder unit was at this fire.

So area fire dept were covering the rest of the city while Boulder FD was responding to this fire.

NRV: BARHA (the landlord association) has offered housing help, as did CU for any students who lost their apartments.

Weaver: How long will it take for a full search of every unit for unaccounted for people and pets?

Calderazzo: We'll let them finish the investigation, 1-2 days. Then assess the structure and see if we can get in. "I don't think ... if we're down to 4 unaccounted for owners, that's key. We can focus the search there."

Probably "a few more days before we can get back in there," Calderazzo says. We should know by the end of the week if there are any victims (pets or people).

That's it for this update. I'm sure much more to come this week. Follow @dailycamera for more; I'll sum up all the info at the end of the week in the Beat's newsletter.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thanks!