The tragedy has never been solved.
"All victims were unconscious, not breathing, and did not have a pulse," according to a report by U.S. Fire Administration investigator Thomas H. Miller. "The fifth victim, who was badly burned, was not located until later"
The fire moved fast.
"The flames were just incredible” and a "stairwell was shooting flames just as wide and as long as the stairwell itself," hotel maintenance man Tim Janovich said. He resided at the hotel.
From Room 222, victim Susan Garret, her life drawing to a close, telephoned the front desk at 2:30 a.m. to report smoke puffing through a bathroom vent - and called again moments later to report she and her bedridden mother, Vivian, were trapped.
The fire exit was just 20 feet away.
"I could have had a whole truckload of fire extinguishers - and I couldn’t have gotten near the door of 222,” Janovich said.
The Rocky Mountain News reported: "About a third of the U-shaped, 107-unit hotel was destroyed by the fire, which snaked through a utility crawl space and spread throughout the corridors."
A North Metro firefighter, Ann Rouse, has a close call when her leg went through the roof, the News said.
Sixty-eight hotel rooms were occupied that night.
In the aftermath, North Metro Fire Division Chief Steve Pischke said investigators interviewed between 400 and 450 people, including guests, hotel employees and former employees - some more than once.
Pishke said: "Somebody out there knows something."
The killer or killers may still be alive.
If you have information, call the Thornton Police Department or North Metro Fire.
[Photo: U.S. Fire Administration]
"The flames were just incredible” and a "stairwell was shooting flames just as wide and as long as the stairwell itself," hotel maintenance man Tim Janovich said. He resided at the hotel.
From Room 222, victim Susan Garret, her life drawing to a close, telephoned the front desk at 2:30 a.m. to report smoke puffing through a bathroom vent - and called again moments later to report she and her bedridden mother, Vivian, were trapped.
The fire exit was just 20 feet away.
"I could have had a whole truckload of fire extinguishers - and I couldn’t have gotten near the door of 222,” Janovich said.
The Rocky Mountain News reported: "About a third of the U-shaped, 107-unit hotel was destroyed by the fire, which snaked through a utility crawl space and spread throughout the corridors."
A North Metro firefighter, Ann Rouse, has a close call when her leg went through the roof, the News said.
Sixty-eight hotel rooms were occupied that night.
In the aftermath, North Metro Fire Division Chief Steve Pischke said investigators interviewed between 400 and 450 people, including guests, hotel employees and former employees - some more than once.
Pishke said: "Somebody out there knows something."
The killer or killers may still be alive.
If you have information, call the Thornton Police Department or North Metro Fire.
[Photo: U.S. Fire Administration]
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