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Body found following duplex fire in Old Colorado City

N 14th Street fire
Posted at 5:51 AM, Aug 19, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-19 15:54:13-04

OLD COLORADO CITY — A police spokesperson has confirmed one body was found by firefighters Wednesday following a duplex fire in Old Colorado City.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department and police are working together in the investigation to determine if there was a criminal act involved in the death.

The fire department responded around 11 p.m. Tuesday to the duplex on North 14th Street and also called a brush truck because they were concerned embers from this fire might start a wildland fire given the dry conditions across our state.

"We did have a lot of embers going up because of it, so we added an extra engine and brush truck just for the wildland side of it, and they were patrolling the area making sure we didn't have any spot fires or grass fires along with our structure fire," Capt. Mike Smaldino with the fire department said.

After 45 minutes of fighting the fire, the duplex suffered severe fire damage and the roof collapsed as a result.

Firefighters said there was one person accounted for and investigators returned Wednesday morning to enter the building. The discovery of the body came before noon.

There was a woman who lived at the duplex that was not home at the time of the fire, but her dog was and the department was able to rescue the dog.

This is a developing story.