u/GiraffeEconomy3666

TLDR; my young son caught my apartment on fire, there were no.detectors in my apt and the fire suppression system failed to activate, since then my life has been slowly falling apart. Do I sue him for the warrant of habitability or.just leave it alone and find somewhere else to live?

On may 22, my family’s apartment caught fire while we were sleeping. We lost our home and basically everything we had. We’ve been displaced ever since and it has turned into an absolute nightmare trying to find somewhere to stay for my family and i, as well as navigate insurance which has hardly helpedat all, all while trying to just do life with 2 young kids.

What makes me really angry is that there were no working smoke detectors in the apartment. There were literally no detectors there. The hookups were taped over. Like they painted the apartment and just left the tape over the detector hookups and never put them back up. That paired with my 15 ft tall ceilings and me not owning a ladder they never got put up. I mentioned it in person to the property manager person on at least one other occasion when mentioning no vents for the dryer. Nothing was done.

The fire itself was started when my son was playing with a lighter while the rest of my family and I were asleep in the other room. We woke up to raging flames in the room next to ours. There was also a built in fire suppression system in this old building but it failed to activate even though the bulb broke.

What I am questioning is whether my landlord was negligent for renting us a home without functioning smoke detectors and whether that negligence made the situation worse or put my family in unnecessary danger.

Since the fire, we've been displaced, we've had to stay in hotels, a tent, and our car at times. I even ended up having to drive my truck I don't normally drive because I was forced to live in it and ended up in an accident. In which my truck was impounded and much of everything I had left was in my truck and much of it was stolen while it was in impound. I have also been contacted by DHS over reports made that I was living in my truck with my kids and dog. I've spent every dime of my savings on just trying to stay afloat and insurance has been a fucking nightmare. As of today it's been 12 days since I submitted loss of use receipts and my insurance company doesn't even want to return my call. Worse company I've ever dealt with, making mention of no names it's named after a citrusy yellow drink!

My husband was also briefly incarcerated because he missed a court date while we were sleeping in the truck and slept through the alarm on his phone. And I spent money to bail him out. To top it off the uncertainty about where our family is going to go daily has made it really hard for my husband to maintain working because we are all just trying to figure out where we will sleep each night which wound up with us about 45 min away in the bigger city in our area for cheaper hotel prices. So he's lost a lot of wages since this as well

At this point I'm seriously considering talking to an attorney about suing my landlord.

But here's where I'm conflicted.

I know the fire was accidentally caused by my child. I'm not trying to blame the landlord for the fire itself. I'm asking whether the lack of smoke detectors and failure of the fire suppression system is something completely separate that could make the landlord responsible for part of what happened.

Would I be the asshole for pursuing legal action against my landlord over this?

I don't know whether I'm just angry and trying to place blame or if I actually have a legal standing here.

If you know anything about Colorado landlord/tenant law, especially requirements for smoke detectors and landlord liability when there is a fire, I'd really appreciate some advice.

What would you do if you were in my position?

Likely going to cross post this for more opinions if the rules allow. Tia

On May 22nd, my apartment caught on fire after my young son accidentally started it. Since that day, it feels like my entire life has been one disaster after another.

We've been displaced for a month tomorrow..

The insurance company has been moving slow as hell and honestly its been so overwhelming just trying to itemize everything and navigate the whole process and meanwhile my family is left trying to survive day by day. They issued a small loss-of-use advance, but it disappeared almost immediately between hotel rooms, gas, food, laundry, replacing necessities, and trying to keep my children fed and comfortable while they process this.

At the same time, I've been dealing with a landlord who has been pressuring us about removing belongings from the apartment while we're still trying to recover from the fire itself. Between dealing with insurance, trying to figure out housing, taking care of my children, and trying to salvage what's left of our lives, it feels like every day brings a new crisis.

The worst part is that I thought I had found a way out.

I found a better apartment. I signed a lease. For the first time since the fire, I felt hopeful. I thought we were finally going to have somewhere stable to go and start rebuilding our lives.

But because we've spent nearly every dollar we had on hotel rooms and survival expenses while waiting for insurance to do something, I couldn't come up with the money needed for move-in.

The landlord terminated the lease.

Just like that.

So not only did I lose my home in a fire, I also lost the place that was supposed to be our fresh start.

And now I genuinely don't know what to do.

This weekend pushed me over the edge.

There are no hotel rooms available anywhere around us because of a big event in town. We called everywhere we could think of. Nothing. Every place is booked.

So for the last two nights, my family has been sleeping in a tent on a friend's property.

No power.

No running water.

No shower.

No kitchen.

No real beds.

not even an air mattress.

just liike... two comforters and a blanket. at 10,000 ft elevation in colorado.

Just a tent.

I'm sitting here wondering how my life got here.

A month ago I had an apartment, a shower, and my landlord has taken all the rest of my bellongings that were in the apartment and i dont even know where he put them. He likely pushed the remioval of my belonogings and the start of repairs since he was in the wrong and there were no smoke detectors in my apartment when thhe fire happened and we were asleep.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to charge a phone, where my kids can shower, how we're going to eat, where we're going to sleep tomorrow night, and how we're ever supposed to save enough money to get into another place when every penny is being spent just trying to survive every day.

I'm exhausted. I'm scared. I'm angry. I'm embarrassed. And i feel like a failure.

I'm failing my family even though I'm doing everything I can, and its never good enough.

I've spent weeks making phone calls, filling out paperwork, emailing adjusters, contacting charities, asking churches for help, talking to Red Cross, searching for housing, searching for hotel rooms, and trying to stretch every penny of my non existant money.

And every time I think I can finally catch my breath, something else falls apart.

I know people have survived worse. Hell, my life has always been rough and im sure i have survived worse... buut its different once you have yooung kids. they are 4 and 8.. and I know eventually we'll get through this somehow but im just so fucking tired, tired of fighting every single day just to have a place for my family to sleep.

On may 22 we suffered a house fire. During this fire I lost my pigeon. I had bought her from some one about a year prior as she was not being well cared for. I do not have a receipt for this. I am now navigating my insurance and question the ethicality of creating a receipt for my bird to sumbit to my insurance. Of course it will not bring her back and there is no dollar amount that could be put on her life and i would much rather have her back than any sort of insurance payout for her, but they want receipts for anything i lost worth over $500 and since i dont have one would it be wrong for me to create one??

We experienced an apartment fire and we have been displaced since May 22. Need gas to get my children housed for the night. Can provide proof of ability to pay and everything. My insurance issued an advance on Friday but funds won't be here until Monday. Thanks for xonsidering

Colorado - Apartment Fire, No Smoke Detectors, Possible Sprinkler Failure, Landlord Threatening Disposal of Property

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Location: teller county, Colorado

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I'm in Colorado and my family was displaced after a fire in our apartment on May 22, 2026.

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The fire was accidentally started by my young son. Thankfully everyone got out safely, but the apartment sustained significant smoke and fire damage and we have been displaced since.

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There are several issues that have me questioning whether the landlord may have some liability:

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When the fire occurred, there were no working smoke detectors in the apartment.

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Some of the smoke detectors had tape over them when we moved in.

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The fire suppression/sprinkler system did not activate during the fire.

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After the fire, we noticed broken glass on part of the sprinkler head assembly.

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The fire department responded and documented the incident.

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I have photographs of the smoke detectors and sprinkler components.

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Since the fire, my landlord has repeatedly pressured me to remove all of our belongings immediately so he can begin demolition and remediation work.

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At one point he told me that if I did not remove everything, his workers would throw away whatever remained in the apartment.

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My concerns are:

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Can a landlord legally dispose of a tenant's property this soon after a fire?

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Does the fact that there may have been no functioning smoke detectors create liability for the landlord, even though my child accidentally started the fire?

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If the sprinkler system failed to activate, could that expose the landlord to liability for the increased damage?

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Should I be preserving the smoke detectors and sprinkler system as evidence before remediation occurs?

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Is there a specific type of attorney I should contact (landlord-tenant, premises liability, personal injury, etc.)?

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What steps should I be taking right now to protect my rights?

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Additional context:

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We have been displaced and have two young children.

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We were staying in hotels while trying to find housing.

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Renters insurance has been slow to process our claim.

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The landlord is pushing to begin demolition before I feel there has been a full investigation into the smoke detectors and fire suppression system.

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I'm not looking to avoid responsibility for the fact that the fire started in our unit. My question is whether the lack of working smoke detectors and possible sprinkler system failure creates separate legal issues and whether I need to take steps immediately to preserve evidence before repairs begin.