


1 hurt, residents displaced in stairwell collapse
One person was injured after a stairwell and exterior balcony collapsed at an apartment building near West 30th Avenue and Vallejo Street in Denver’s Highland neighborhood.
Denver Fire Department crews responded to the building around 12:30 p.m. Monday after callers reported a stairwell and exterior balcony collapsed on a building where the upper floors were under construction, according to the agency.
One construction worker was taken to a hospital in a personal vehicle, and firefighters helped two families on lower floors leave safely. Residents on the lower floors are being relocated to hotels, fire officials said. The number of people displaced was not immediately available.
Residents living on the second and third floor of the 18-unit complex were already in hotels because of the construction work, said Denver Community Planning and Development spokesperson Ryan Huff.
The contractor did not obtain a permit for structural repairs and will receive a notice of violation from the city, Huff said.
“We understand this collapse has displaced residents and they want to return home as soon as they can,” Huff said in a statement. “We will work with Denver Fire and the building owner to support interim and long-term structural solutions so that residents can safely access their homes as soon as possible.”
The area is fenced off for public safety, Huff said.
— Katie Langford, The Denver Post
Airport continued to see delays and cancellations
Delta Air Lines was leading carriers in the number of canceled flights at Denver International Airport on Monday — with 31 flights axed — days after a technology meltdown snarled computer systems across the globe.
There were 458 flight delays at DIA and 41 nixed flights overall as of 6 p.m., according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware. Southwest Airlines took the crown in delays Monday, with 179.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported some destination-specific delays for departing flights because of thunderstorms, including Newark International Airport, John F Kennedy International Airport, George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport and Minneapolis-St Paul airport.
Monday’s early slowdown follows several days of operational tumult at DIA. More than 600 flights were canceled or delayed Sunday while more than 800 flights were delayed or scrapped the day before at DIA. As of 6 p.m. Monday, there were more than 9,000 delays within, into or out of the United States, and 1,425 flight cancellations. — Katie Langford, The Denver Post