Firefighters gathered around a Centennial home Thursday morning just hours after a raging fire destroyed the assisted living facility, injuring four people and killing two others.

The home at 6610 S. Oneida Court is an assisted living facility run by We Care Homes Colorado, Inc. It is one of two homes the company uses to provide short-term and long-term care to those in need of home health assistance in Centennial.

“It’s both surprising and really sad,” said Christopher Graber, a neighbor who has lived in the area since 2020.

South Metro Fire Rescue initially responded to the assisted living facility around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday after reports of a fire, according to a spokesperson.

The fire was raised to second-alarm status, bringing in another department to help the battle. Six people were identified inside of the home, with evacuation becoming the firefighters’ priority.

One person left the home, five other were evacuated. All six were taken to a nearby hospital, where two later died around 8 a.m.

Tate Owen, a spokesperson with the fire department, said they were unsure how many of the victims were residents living at the home and how many were workers.

The cause of death of the two victims will be released later by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office following autopsies and notification of family.

The fire was thought to be extinguished around 3 a.m., but hotspots later arose and delayed the investigation.

Investigators began looking into the fire around 4:30 a.m., with initial indications showing that the “accidental” fire started as “improper disposal of smoking materials,” Owen said.

Owen could not specify what the smoking materials were prior to the full investigation, but added that it began outside of the home and later engulfed the residence.

“It’s a very close-knit neighborhood,” Graber said. “You never really want to hear that your neighbors have to go through something like that.”

Graber said that he sees disabled people being helped at the assisted living facility all of the time and often waves hello.

The Denver Gazette reached out to We Care Homes Colorado for comment, but did not hear back by the time of this report.

Multiple members of the “close-knit” neighborhood stood around, sharing thoughts of disbelief as firefighters continued clearing the building Thursday morning.

“I didn’t even know it was happening. My son, who lives in Highlands Ranch, called me and said something was happening in my neighborhood,” said Patty, who declined to provide her last name.

“I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 37 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said.

Just over a month ago, another fire struck a Centennial senior apartment complex 7 miles away from Thursday’s fire.

South Metro Fire Rescue responded to a fire at the Centennial Crossings 62+ Apartments at 15475 E. Fair Place around 6:30 a.m. Feb. 6. 

That fire was not ruled accidental, though, with one man being arrested on suspicion of arson by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.

Three people were displaced following the fire.