Just hours before a massive fire ripped through Whittier Apartments where Matthew Sheares lived, he fell asleep on the couch.

This wouldn't have been that significant of detail to Sheares' life at all, except that this part of his apartment tends to funnel in more noise from the adjacent living units, than his bedroom loft.

Fire damage on the third floor is visible at the Whittier Place Condominiums at 23rd Street and Pearl Street on Oct. 20, 2021. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)

Sheares, 41, had been living at the Whittier Apartments on Pearl Street since mid-May in a third-floor unit. About 3:30 a.m. Oct. 19, he said a persistent noise jarred him from slumber on the couch.

"I woke up and was like, 'What the heck? That doesn't sound right.' It was loud. It was a commotion that I had never heard before," Sheares said.

It was a combination of thudding, banging and then a scream.

"That's what really got me out of the house," Sheares said. "I opened my door and all you see is this bright light coming down the corridor and you can hear (the fire)."

He said the fire had a popping and cracking sound.

Sheares was among the residents in 81 units who fled from the fire. More than a week after the devastation, he told his escape story and how he tried to help his neighbors as flames engulfed the building. Meanwhile, Sheares' neighbor, Olivia Steinmetz, 23, recounted how she and her boyfriend had to jump from their second-story balcony to flee to safety.

Boulder police, who were on patrol in downtown early that morning, responded to the fire about 3:35 a.m. — two minutes after the first call to dispatch had been received. Police said they were able to access more 60 units, but because of the intensity of smoke and flames, were not able to reach the other units.

Firefighters continue to put water on a fire in a multifamily residence in Boulder near 23rd Street and Pearl Street on Oct. 19. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)

Shannon Aulabaugh, city communications manager, wrote in an email Friday that authorities have released the condos back to the property managers. The cause of the fire has not been identified.

"The investigation is ongoing," Aulabaugh said. "We do not expect to release anything additional on the investigation for the next eight weeks. The property management company decides if residents can or will be allowed to return and gather items, and I do not know if they have made a decision. The buildings have been posted as 'unsafe.' The owners (ownership) along with their insurance will decide the next steps as far as rebuilding."

All residents are believed to have been accounted for. The Daily Camera has reported that there were some sprinklers and fire alarms that were activated, but they were triggered in areas where the fire burned the hottest.

After he saw the building was on fire, Sheares said he threw his laptop in his backpack and left his home. He felt, though, that he couldn't exit the building without at least warning his neighbors, who may have still been asleep.

"I told myself get out as many people as you can," Sheares said. "I started banging on doors and I'm screaming 'Fire!' There are no alarms going off. I'm just watching the fire grow. When people are encountering you for the first time, some started shutting the door on me. I was like 'You can't stay in, you guys have to get out.'"

Sheares said he and residents on the third floor were able to go down and out of the building and into the east parking lot.

"I didn't know what I was going into (as I was escaping), so I called my mom to tell her I loved her," Sheares said.

An early morning fire Oct. 19 destroyed portions of Whittier Apartments at 2301 Pearl St. in Boulder. (Kelsey Hammon)

While on the phone with his mom, who lives in Florida, Sheares said he realized once he was safely outside that not everyone was out of the building yet.

"I went up to the second floor and encountered police," Sheares said. "I said, 'Have you knocked on all the doors?'"

He said he began helping police move from door to door to alert residents. Other neighbors also helped him, Sheares said, and together they pounded on doors, yelling for people to evacuate.

"That went on the second floor and the first floor," Sheares said. "We knocked on as many doors as we could and then got out. It was a group effort."

He added, "I don't know how else to describe it other than the most intense thing I have ever been through."

In the floor below where Sheares lived, Steinmetz, 23, woke about 3:50 a.m. to what sounded like people in the units above her running.

Steinmetz had lived in a second-floor unit of the Whittier Apartments, 2301 Pearl St., since early August with her boyfriend. When she peered outside, after being abruptly awoken early that morning, she noticed that she could see the color orange reflecting in the glass of town homes and condos across from them.

"We didn't hear any alarms or anything," Steinmetz said. "My boyfriend went to the front door and I didn't see it, but he saw what he thinks were 60 foot flames, pretty close to him."

Those flames, Steinmetz said, were blocking the path out of the building. Knowing they would have to find an alternate route, the couple dragged a mattress to the balcony and tossed it on the bushes and gravel that was about 30 feet below. Hanging off the balcony, they both dropped down to the mattress.

"He went first," Steinmetz recalled. "I couldn't see very well, because I wear contacts or glasses and I didn't have either of those on. It was also really dark. I was hanging and then I dropped down. I landed in a way that really hurt. I couldn't get up for a second."

Steinmetiz said after lying there for a moment, she was able to get up and flee with her boyfriend. The pair huddled with their neighbors and police, who offered them blankets.

She found out later that day, after a trip to the emergency room, that she had suffered three compression fractures in her spine from the fall.

Next steps

Steinmetz and her boyfriend, Max Yusen, have been staying with her sister in her Denver apartment. Now in a back brace, Steinmetz said she is able to walk short distances, but isn't healed enough to be able to work at her two jobs in Boulder, one on an organic farm and the other in a house plant shop.

In the week ahead, she has a follow-up appointment with a neurosurgeon to further evaluate her back.

"They don't think I need surgery," Steinmetz said. "I'm really thankful for that, but I don't know what they're going to say next. I have a feeling it will take a couple of months before I fully heal."

The couple has been able to get their car. With the safety of the building still being assessed by authorities, Steinmetz said they haven't yet been able to return to their unit to see whether they can salvage any of their belongings. But, Steinmetz and Sheares aren't too hopeful there's anything left to claim.

Reflecting on what's ahead, Steinmetz said she is considering returning to a family home in Washington to continue recovering from her injury.

"I don't think my boyfriend and I will be coming back to Boulder, unfortunately," Steinmetz said.

Sheares finds himself wondering what would have happened if he had chosen to sleep in his loft that evening, instead of dozing off on the couch and why he only heard some fire alarms going off.

Steinmetz said the scariest part was how big the fire was already when they first woke up.

"There was no noise really, except for people moving around," Steinmetz said.

Aulabaugh said the complex didn't have a "building" fire alarm system and that it was not required. All the units did have smoke alarms, though, which is mandated.

"I don't know how many (smoke alarms) operated to alert the occupants prior to be alerted by yelling and banging on their doors by other residences and police," Aulabaugh wrote. "However, most units didn't have smoke in their units prior to the fire being discovered since the fire originated on the exterior of the building. They only actuate when there is smoke in the unit."

After the fire, Sheares said the man who owns a gym where Sheares goes, offered to let Sheares stay with him and his wife. Sheares said he's now living in temporary housing and has been able to continue working at his maintenance and landscape companies.

Steinmetz said she is thankful to the firefighters who put out the blaze and that no one else in her complex was seriously injured or killed.

"So far, everyone who has helped has been generous and kind," Steinmetz said. "I've seen a couple of Go Fund Me's for people who are residents at the apartment. I just appreciate every little thing that everyone has been doing."

Sheares said that since the fire, roughly half a dozen neighbors have thanked him for knocking on their door. He implored the Boulder County community to continue to help people who were relocated because of the fire.

The Daily Camera previously reported that the American Red Cross has been working with residents to help them find temporary housing and support services. Individuals wishing to assist the fire victims are asked to donate directly to the Red Cross. For more information, people can visit redcross.org/donate, call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or text REDCROSS to 90999.

"I wish that people knew that there are people that care and that will do anything to make sure the person next to them will be OK," Sheares said. "Without a community, what do we have?"