Highlands Ranch house fire ignited by fireworks

A Sunday night house fire at a Highlands Ranch home started because residents tossed spent fireworks into a plastic garbage bin in their garage.

No one was injured and South Metro Fire Rescue firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze before it engulfed the house on Kittiwake Street, Eric Hurst, a South Metro spokesman, said. The garage was destroyed by the fire and the house had minor fire damage and extensive smoke damage, he said.

Firefighters rescued one cat and treated it with oxygen, Hurst said. A second cat was not injured. Smoke alarms alerted the residents to evacuate.

The residents shot fireworks on Sunday night and then improperly discarded them in a plastic trash can inside the garage, Hurst said.

“They felt them with their hands as they threw them in the garbage can and thought they were cool enough,” he said.

To properly dispose of used fireworks, people need to let them cool in the street and then place them in buckets of water overnight to saturate, Hurst said. Keep the bucket away from houses or other buildings. In the morning, put the wet fireworks in two sturdy plastic garbage bags before putting them in a garbage can.

“The idea behind that is to keep all that material moist,” he said.

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