DENVER – Federal agents have been deployed to help investigate the massive fire that broke out at an under-construction apartment complex Friday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced Tuesday.
The fire near S. Leetsdale Drive and S. Forest Street smoldered for several days and stretched an entire city block, prompting evacuations and street closures, and injuring one firefighter, according to the ATF release. More than 150 firefighters worked to control the blaze, our sister station Denver7 reported, and approximately 18 million gallons of water were used to extinguish the fire, according to Denver Fire Division Chief Robert Murphy.
"I don't think I've ever been at a fire where we flowed so much water," he said at Tuesday press conference.
ATF’s Denver Field Division asked for the ATF’s National Response Team (NRT) to help determine the cause of the fire, according to the bureau’s announcement.
“The NRT is bringing federal resources and expertise to this complex investigation,” ATF Special Agent in Charge Chris Ashbridge said in the release. “It is a top priority for us because we understand the immense challenges this fire has created for residents and businesses.”
The NRT consists of a range of specialists as well as unmanned aerial systems, 3D scanning, forensic mapping and portable labs to help determine the cause of the fire.
"We're really happy with this federal partnership," Murphy said at the Tuesday press conference.
"This is a very large footprint — lots of video to look at, lots of people to interview, lots of forensic stuff to look at," he added. "We're hoping that team can help us through that massive building."
Murphy said teams are still unable to get into parts of the building due to danger of collapse, but search dogs looking for human remains have spent "hours and hours" running through an already collapsed portion of the building.
"I'm happy to say, at this point, there was nothing found by those dogs," he said.
Bringing down the building is a top concern, Murphy said.
"That will do us a lot of good," he said. "It will stop most of that smoke and fire stuff that's happening that we can't get to. It will open up lanes of traffic here on Leetsdale."
He said he hopes teams can bring the building down in the next week, but the investigation is "going to take a while."
Denver Fire has activated a tip line for anyone who wants to share video or information via call or text at 720-672-5101.
"Anything you have to say, anything you saw that night ahead of the fire that might be of value to us," Murphy said. "We're really looking for folks to give us a call."