DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver mother returned from driving her daughter to school to her home that was on fire. She shared her grief and gratitude with FOX31 after firefighters extinguished the flames.
Just before 10 a.m. Thursday, the Denver Fire Department He was alerted to a fire At home near Colorado Boulevard and Colfax Avenue.
“I saw the fire trucks and thought it was kind of weird on the side of town,” Raven Mendez said. “I pulled out the back and my neighbor who had already gone to my house to start putting out the fire with the garden hose was in the back window, and he said, ‘Go get the dogs,’ and he was in our bedroom window.”
Raven Mendez walked in on FOX31 during the moments she returned home from school to discover her home on fire.
“Crews made a quick attack on the fire and put the fire out very quickly,” Denver Fire Department Assistant Chief Jeff Linville said. “It is uninhabitable at this point. We have been able to remove several animals from the house.”
DFD told FOX31 that dogs and cats were rescued and given oxygen for smoke inhalation. Now they are working to determine the cause of the fire.
“So the fire department says it’s accidental when you have cats, and anything is actually an accident,” Mendez said. “The facts are that it started in the kitchen and most of the walls are up there, and the kitchen living room is covered in smoke. It’s truly a blessing that everyone is coming out and being honest with you.”
Mendez is focused on the blessings for now.
“I am a single mother, I have a 12-year-old and a three-year-old,” Mendez said. “I go to work every day. And I cook dinner and I do school rounds. I want to be ‘Mrs. Fix It’ but I can’t right now. I can’t. And I don’t have the ability to do it. But being able to talk to everyone and feel supported has been so important. Complete strangers. Firefighters. Is everyone really, just like, providing that support.”
Mendez says she moved to Denver to pursue it Passion for art She is so grateful to discover the community behind her. Her paintings and creations were not destroyed in the fire, something she is grateful for.
“I think now is probably a good time to use this as a therapy session because the backyard is still usable, and I can still use it and also do my art,” Mendez said.
The Red Cross came out to reach out and find out how they could support Mendez’s family and pets.