Electrical fire leaves home uninhabitable

BRIGHTON--At 9:45 am on Tuesday, December 20, crews were dispatched to a house fire in the 700 block of South 9th Avenue. The first crews arrived on scene at 9:47 am. Upon arrival crews could see heavy smoke and fire coming from the garage area of the home. Fire crews were assisted by PD and EMS in attempting to evacuate the neighboring homes. Crews had the fire under control and out within 30 minutes.

The fire was determined to be an accidental electrical fire that originated in the garage. All occupants, four adults and one child were out of the home when crews arrived. The family had three dogs, two were found in the back yard during the fire, and unfortunately one did not make it out of the home and perished in the fire. The fire was discovered in the garage by one of the homeowners, who then woke up the other sleeping occupants. There was one smoke detector in the home, but it was not working properly. The family may have had earlier warning of the fire with working smoke detectors in the home.

The fire and smoke damage was extensive, and the family will not be able to return to the home. Brighton Police Victims Advocates were on scene to assist the family with finding housing and getting them the necessities they will need.

There were no civilian or firefighter injuries reported from this fire. Although it is sad that the family lost a beloved family pet, we are glad that there were no human casualties in this fire. We would like to remind the public that no matter how tempting it is to re-enter your home when there is a fire to look for other occupants, pets, or valuables, as it is extremely dangerous to do so. We would also like to remind the public that working smoke detectors in a home increase a family’s chances of survival by 50%. We will provide free smoke detectors and batteries for anyone in our fire district that does not have them. They can call our main number, 303-659-4101 to make arrangements for free smoke detectors.