DENVER --
Denver firefighters are trying to determine what caused an apartment fire that broke out Sunday.
The blaze started shortly before noon at the De Medeci Apartment complex in the Da Vinci building, near East Mexico Avenue and South Bellaire.
"We just hear a bang," said John Waymire, a resident who lives in the building. "It sounded like a big trash can or Dumpster falling, so I didn't think much of it. Then the people across the street, we heard them yelling, 'Get out, get out', so we decided we better go down and get out of the building."
Shivani Moktan lives on the 12th floor. "There was a huge explosion and the whole building, it kind of rattled, shook," she said. "We just grabbed our stuff and ran down."
Assistant Denver Fire Chief Joe Hart said the fire started in a first-floor corner apartment. Late Sunday afternoon, the cause of the fire was unknown.
Residents suspected a gas grill started the fire, but no grill was located on the patio of the apartment where the fire is said to have started.
The family of three who lived in that unit was not home at the time of the fire. The unit directly above that apartment was vacant.
"With the number of people in this building, with the amount of smoke involved, we were pretty fortunate," said Hart.
Celebration Community Church brought over chairs, food and coffee for evacuated residents while they waited to go back inside.
"A few people ran out because they heard what was going on," said Donna Mayberry, a church member. "We stopped for a minute and prayed for everybody, and then as soon as church was over we started bringing over leftover coffee and our snacks and whatever we had."
Everyone but the family who lived in the unit where the fire started was allowed back inside Sunday.
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