A fire in a Loveland apartment building that occurred around 2 a.m. on April 15 has displaced around two dozen residents. No deaths or injuries were reported. The apartment is located on Dotsero Drive in southwest Loveland.
Conner Lee, who has lived in the apartment building with his family for the last six years, said that the building has been deemed uninhabitable and will be torn down. Lee, his wife Cindy Galvez, their eight-year-old daughter Cambria, and their six-year-old son Coheed were all sleeping inside the apartment when it caught fire.
“At around 2:15, I heard our neighbors banging on our door yelling at us to get out, so I ran to get my kids and wife and grabbed our dog and got out of the house,” Lee said. “Our neighbor below us didn’t understand what was happening and was still inside, so I ran back in to help him out.”
Between the smoke and fire damage, Lee’s family lost everything. “Our kids’ toys and stuffed animals mean so much to them, it's hard,” he said. “We have been trying to hold things together for the kids, but our emotions are starting to leak out now. We are starting to realize how much we really lost.”
Lee’s mother, Margaret Yaste, started a GoFundMe page today to raise money for her son and his family to get back on their feet. Lee said that the family will continue to hop between hotels and spare rooms or stay with family until they can find a new place to live. “Finances are hard right now as we are figuring stuff out,” Lee said. “We are obviously spending more money right now than we planned for.”
Both Lee and Galvez work for the St. Vrain Valley School District, Lee for campus security and Galvez in the special education department. “We're just your regular church-going family that goes to work, and we care for kids more than anything,” Lee said. “We just can't be thankful enough to the people trying to help us out at this time.”
The cause of the apartment fire is still under investigation.
