DENVER (KDVR) — It’s been more than two weeks since a deadly fire tore through a Lakewood apartment complex, killing a mother and her young daughter.

The fire displaced dozens of people like Will Cagle, who said it still feels like a bad dream.

“Yeah, like a nightmare that you’re not waking up from,” he said.

Cagle is now living out of a Denver hotel as he waits to find out where his new home will be. 

“They’re taking about sometime in December, somewhere in Thornton, which is way out of the way,” he said. Cagle believes the company that manages Tiffany Square, Avail Property Management, is not doing enough to help. 

“It’s a lot of stress that I have to deal with,” he said. “I not only have to deal with work, I have to deal with home life, and I gotta sit and figure out: When are they gonna place us?”

At Tiffany Square apartments, personal property remains

It remains unclear if items in the 32-unit complex will be salvageable. 

“It’s just surreal,” said Shiona Owens, who jumped from her second-story window with her two kids to escape the flames.

Owens said Avail offered to put her in an Arvada apartment complex, but she feels uncomfortable living off the ground level.

“I don’t think that’s fair,” she said. “There’s no empathy in the situation coming from the property management company.”

Avail released the following statement to FOX31 on Tuesday, saying they hope to have everyone placed in permanent housing by next week:

The management company shares its sincerest condolences for the loss that has been suffered as a result of the fire that occurred on October 31, 2022.

With assistance from the Red Cross, the team has supported the residents by working with the households, one on one, to connect them with services in the Lakewood and Denver community and to relocate them to available apartment homes in the area. Gift cards, donations, and other community resources are being provided by not just the company, but also local organizations.

Many of the households have either already been permanently transferred to other apartment homes or are in the process of moving over the next week. If households refuse alternate housing options, we are still working with them to find suitable temporary living arrangement in the meantime. The management company will continue to work with residents until each family is permanently housed again.

We encourage any resident that still has questions or immediate needs to contact the management office directly or our crisis management team at tiffanysquarehotline@availcolorado.com.

Avail Property Management