Woman taken to hospital after Regency Tower fire dies

The Colorado Springs Fire Department confirmed Friday that one person died after being taken to the hospital following a fire at Regency Tower.

The high-rise fire happened last Friday, and CSFD told us this week that two people had been taken to the hospital to be evaluated for smoke inhalation.

We now know that an 89-year-old woman died Tuesday at Memorial Hospital, according to CSFD Captain Brian Vaughan. She hasn’t officially been identified.

It’s not clear if she died from complications due to the smoke inhalation or if her death is unrelated to the fire.

The El Paso County Coroner’s Office will determine the woman’s official cause of death.

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The fire at a high-rise apartment complex in southwest Colorado Springs could have been started by “numerous” possibilities, meaning the official cause will be “undetermined.”

That’s according to the Colorado Springs Fire Department, which issued an update Thursday about the fire on May 24.

The fire started on the 10th floor, but investigators say there are “numerous possible causes at the point of origin.” The damage left by the fire also made it difficult to determine an official cause.

CSFD said several residents were evaluated for smoke inhalation, but no injuries were reported. One cat died during the fire.

Residents are still displaced, and they won’t know when they’ll be allowed to return until a meeting on Wednesday. The manager has advised tenants to prepare to be out until next weekend.

Some residents remain frustrated and upset that they haven’t been allowed in to gather clothing, medicine and other possessions.

“I’m doing fine, luckily, because I have a sister who lives here,” said Jeani Redding. “But the thing that bothers me the most is they have not kept us up to date on what’s happening.”

Other neighbors who live several floors below the fire and on the opposite side of the building can’t understand why they aren’t allowed in.

A professional who is supervising interior cleaning and monitoring air quality, explains.

“Unfortunately, after the fire, there were a lot of people throughout the building, lots of doors were opened, people were tracking through all the hallways, firefighters tracking up through where the fire was,” said Christopher Weston, of Colorado Premier Restoration. “They were probably throughout the rest of the building, making sure the residents were out.”
Residents are staying with family and friends, in hotels or motels, or at a Red Cross shelter in Cheyenne Mountain High School.

The Red Cross is helping residents of the 10th and 11th floors — who likely will be displaced the longest — find temporary and permanent housing.

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After six days, residents of the Regency Tower high-rise apartments in southwest Colorado Springs remain displaced following a fire.

Residents received a phone call on Wednesday saying residents of floors 1 through 9 could return home. Shortly after that, they received another phone call saying they can’t return home because of an air quality control inspection.

There is no word yet on when residents will be able to return home.

“It’s very upsetting and frustrating,” one resident said. “First we think we’re going home, then we’re not. It’s too stressful for some of my neighbors.”

The fire started in a 10th-floor unit late Friday morning, forcing the evacuation of more than 100 people — mostly retirees and seniors ages 55 and older.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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It could be a few more days before more than 100 seniors are let back into the Regency Tower Apartments.

The high-rise tower in south Colorado Springs caught fire on Friday, displacing everyone who lives inside.

Betty Sisneros, an 11-year-resident says, “We’re all displaced, we don’t have our homes and we don’t have our personal belongings.”

Capt. Brian Vaughan with the Colorado Springs Fire Department says they released the building back to its owners on Saturday afternoon, but there’s still work to be done before people can live there again.

“Floors one through nine, we need to make sure all the smoke alarms are working, that all the smoke alarms are intact,” he explained.

The bigger problem is floors 10 and 11. Vaughan said there was heavy water damage to part of the building, and because of that, the electrical wiring and the smoke alarm panel needs to be checked before CSFD can go back in and inspect it.

Sisneros said she would wait as long as she has a home to go back to.

“I have no expectations. If it takes longer, that’s okay. We need to come where it’s safe,” she explained.

The cause of the fire has not been released yet. CSFD said they should be releasing details on in the next day or so.