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Aurora apartment fire displaces elderly resident; does $125,000 damage

An apartment fire Friday afternoon in Aurora displaced an elderly man, but no one was injured, officials said.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at a six-unit apartment building in 1300 block of Monomoy Street on the west side of Aurora about 12:50 p.m. Friday. Heavy fire was burning a wall that separates two apartments, and it took nearly two-dozen firefighters about two hours to extinguish the blaze, officials said.

The fire started in a vacant basement unit after the owner used a propane heater to thaw frozen water pipes, officials said. The owner told investigators that the apartment had recently been burglarized, leaving a broken window, and the pipes froze.

The basement apartment and the unit next door occupied by the elderly man were both deemed uninhabitable. The city's victim services unit and the American Red Cross were helping the man.

Residents of the remaining four units were able to return to their homes, officials said.

The total damage is estimated at $125,000.

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