A fire tore through the Star Point Condominiums complex near West 88th Avenue and Huron Street in Thornton on September 4, sending residents fleeing into the night and leaving one family who had lived there for 14 years without a home, their medical equipment, or their car. Lyz Todd, her husband Andy, and their daughter Nev ran outside as flames engulfed the building, and Lyz says she bolted from the unit wearing only shorts and a shirt.
The blaze affected six units in the building and produced massive flames over the condos, according to KDVR. Residents told the station they heard sounds of explosions before they were able to escape, and Andy Todd said he heard popping noises and initially thought something was hitting his window. Lyz described the scene as terrifying, saying everything exploded and went up quickly.
Family Fled With Nothing But the Clothes on Their Backs
The Todds left their condo without shoes, phones, medicine, or the medical equipment Lyz depends on, including an insulin pump, per the family's account to KDVR. Their car was also partially burned by the flames. The family said they were left with only the clothes on their backs after the fire tore through the complex, and they lost their cats in the blaze.
Lyz told the station she remembered flashbacks of the fire and smoke, along with neighbors rushing to help one another as the building burned. The Todds have since relocated to a hotel and returned to the fire scene on Monday for the first time since the fire, seeing the damage up close for the first time since they fled.
Medical Equipment Replacement Underway
The American Red Cross helped replace the family's medication in the aftermath, according to the family's account. The organization's Disaster Health Services program deploys volunteer healthcare workers to emergency sites specifically to help displaced residents secure emergency prescription refills, replacement medical devices, and mental health support as part of its standard disaster response operations. Separately, Colorado Division of Insurance emergency guidelines require health insurers operating in disaster situations to waive prior authorization requirements for emergency prescription refills and replacement durable medical equipment, such as insulin pumps, which could speed Lyz's path to getting her equipment restored.
Residents are being kept out of the condo building, and the structure has been marked unsafe for occupancy. Under Thornton Municipal Code and adopted International Existing Building Code standards, entry into structures declared dangerous or unsafe is prohibited until licensed repair permits are issued and city inspectors verify the building's structural integrity, which explains why the Todds and their neighbors cannot go back inside to retrieve belongings while the investigation continues.
A Complex With a Painful History
Star Point Condominiums, built in 1983, is a multi-building community managed by ACCU Association Management, according to a Realtor.com listing describing the property. The complex has a grim precedent: in March 2010, the Thornton Fire Department responded to a fatal arson fire at the same complex that killed one person, damaged ten units, and displaced 28 residents, per historical reporting from 5280Fire. Following an earlier major fire in another building at Star Point, the homeowners association permanently banned wood-burning fireplaces in units and prohibited outdoor gas grills complex-wide in an effort to reduce fire risk.
The cause of this fire remains unknown, and the fire department is investigating, per the family's account to KDVR. The blaze comes just months after Thornton firefighters battled a separate destructive residential fire near East 112th Place and Madison Street in July, which caused a roof collapse, forced two hospitalizations, and resulted in a total loss of that home, according to 9News.
Insurance Gaps Could Complicate Recovery
The Todd family expects insurance to help rebuild, but Colorado's condo insurance structure could leave gaps in what gets covered. In Colorado, a condo association's master insurance policy typically covers building exteriors and shared common spaces, while individual unit owners rely on their own HO-6 condo insurance policies to cover interior structures, personal belongings, and loss-of-use temporary living costs, according to an issue brief from the Colorado General Assembly. That distinction matters because condo association master insurance premiums across the state rose 103% between June 2022 and June 2023, according to data from The Insurance Loft, increasing the financial exposure unit owners face from special loss assessments after major property fires.
The Todd family says they need immediate assistance for food, clothes, and medical equipment as they figure out next steps. A GoFundMe has been launched to support the family as they navigate the aftermath of losing their home, their pets, and much of what they owned. The Thornton Fire Department, which operates eight 24-hour fire stations staffed by three-person crews covering 28 square miles across Adams, Broomfield, and Weld counties, maintains automatic mutual-aid agreements with nearby fire districts, per 5280Fire's operational overview of the department.
