A woman in Aurora says her life changed in an instant when the apartment she was renting caught fire. It serves as a reminder to invest in renters insurance. While most property companies require it, this is a lesson in how valuable it can be.
“I didn’t expect this on a Sunday morning. Not at all,” the woman said. She spoke to CBS Colorado but asked that her name not be used.
The woman says she was cooking breakfast for her family in November when her boyfriend called out to her.
“I saw a ball of fire over his head and black smoke coming towards us,” she said.
The fire spread from the ceiling of her bathroom into her room.
“My first thought was my grandson,” she said.
She ran to wake her son and 8-month-old grandson, who were visiting.
“His face was covered in black smoke,” she said.
Everyone inside, including her boyfriend’s dog, made it out. But the woman says her grandson is being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.
“My grandson is suffering and for what reason? Why? I want to know why,” she said.
The woman’s landlord says he doesn’t know of any electrical problems. The cause of the fire is being investigated by Aurora Fire and Rescue.
“Everything is gone. This is terrible. Everything’s gone,” she said.
Two weeks later, the woman walked through what’s left of her house.
“Pictures, baby pictures,” she said, “they meant a lot to me because they were my children, like memories. I can’t replace them, I can’t get them back.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have tenants’ insurance. To make matters worse, most of her money was in cash and was lost in the fire.
“I have no money. All my savings were in my mattress,” she said.
The American Red Cross and her landlord put her up in a hotel for 10 days, but now she faces homelessness.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time,” she said.
The woman says she’s trying to sell what possessions she has left to afford a few more nights in a hotel, but she’s not sure what’s next for her.
