A fire tore through a vacant, four-story multifamily building near 38th and Paris Street in Denver on Monday, involving multiple units of the structure before crews got it under control. No injuries were reported, and arson investigators have been called in to determine how the blaze started.
The Denver Fire Department said crews responded to the vacant structure fire in a post on the social platform X, confirming the building involved multiple units and that no one was hurt, according to the Denver Fire Department
City Rules for Vacant Properties
Denver's revised Neglected and Derelict Properties regulations address neglected and derelict properties, remediation plans and hazards, per the city. In hazardous cases, citations may be issued and emergency abatement measures can be initiated.
Fines and Fees Aimed at Chronic Problem Properties
The rules build on a Denver City Council update that raised non-compliance fines up to $5,000 per day, Denverite reported at the time. Before that update, the city had already documented nearly 300 neglected or derelict buildings citywide. The Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle reported that remediation may include locks, fences, cleanups or other physical security for unsafe properties; it also reported that city code allows Denver to assess a $5,000 fee on property owners when three or more 911 or dispatch calls occur at a neglected structure within six months, with city officials pointing to repeated emergency dispatches as a drain on municipal resources.
Monday's fire is under investigation by the Denver Fire Department's Fire Investigation Unit.
Vacant Structures Carry Outsized Fire Risk
Fires in empty or under-construction residential buildings have drawn heightened scrutiny in Denver over the past year. A five-alarm fire in January destroyed a nearly 300-unit, under-construction apartment complex on Leetsdale Drive, leading to 26 arson counts against a suspect tracked through surveillance footage, according to CBS News. That blaze required assistance from the ATF National Response Team and more than 150 firefighters, and crews used roughly 18 million gallons of water battling the multi-day fire.
Fire officials noted during the Leetsdale investigation that unoccupied and under-construction structures present extreme fire risks because they often lack operational alarms and active sprinkler systems — the same conditions that can turn a vacant building fire into a fast-moving, multi-unit event. In May, a Denver District Court judge ruled the Leetsdale suspect mentally incompetent to stand trial, ordering a stay of proceedings and evaluation at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital.
Monday's incident adds to a string of structure fires Denver Fire Department crews have battled across the city this year. In August, a second-alarm fire near Akron and Mississippi in southeast Denver involved a multi-unit apartment building. A second alarm typically pulls roughly 22 additional apparatus citywide, as detailed in Hoodline's coverage of that blaze. No cause has yet been announced for the fire near 38th and Paris Street, and the Fire Investigation Unit's review remains ongoing.
