Massive fire in U.S. city Denver injures firefighter

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A five-alarm fire erupted at an apartment construction site in Denver, the capital of the U.S. state of Colorado, prompting evacuation alerts and injuring a firefighter Friday night.

The Denver Fire Department said the fire was reported at around 6:45 p.m. local time on Friday (0145 GMT Saturday), adding the building is a 283-unit development in the early to mid-stages of construction, with wood and some plastic materials used in wrapping and construction.

The fire department said on social media that "crews are operating in heavy fire conditions and focusing on containment and exposure protection." A fire department division chief said it "rose to the level of about a five-alarm fire" and that at least 100 firefighters had responded to the scene.

One firefighter was injured while battling the blaze and was taken to a hospital, the Denver Fire Department told ABC News, adding that it was not clear whether construction workers were present when the fire started.

Robert Murphy, division chief of operations at the Denver Fire Department, told CBS News, "It's a complete city block and it is on fire and it's unopposed because there's (there are) no fire stops."

An evacuation order covering two city blocks was issued following the incident.

The apartment complex had neither drywall nor insulation to contain the fire, nor protection systems such as sprinklers in place, allowing the blaze to spread rapidly from one end of the building to the other.

Firefighting efforts continued for hours, and by midnight, the fire was largely under control but not fully extinguished. Firefighters were expected to remain at the scene overnight to fully suppress remaining hot spots.

A "five-alarm" is typically the highest alarm level for a fire in the United States, indicating a catastrophic event requiring dozens of vehicles and more than 100 personnel.

Footage shot by a local outlet showed numerous firefighters spraying large volumes of water on the flames from ladder trucks, while heavy smoke illuminated by bright red flames was visible from kilometers away.