A 7-year-old girl was injured after falling from the seventh-floor window of a Denver shelter onto a second-floor rooftop, according to authorities.
The child is expected to be released from the hospital soon, according to Jennifer Forker, spokesperson for the Salvation Army which manages the shelter.
The Tamarac Family Shelter, 7527 E. Hampden Ave., was a former Embassy Suites hotel that was converted into housing for families experiencing homelessness in 2023 as part of Mayor Mike Johnston’s plan to move the homeless toward stable, permanent housing.
The window the child fell out of was “a previously secured sliding glass door, fastened shut with screws and epoxy and clearly labeled do not open in English and Spanish,” Forker wrote in a statement.
“Unfortunately, the safety features were tampered with — contrary to The Salvation Army’s regulations and the signed guest agreement— and the door was opened,” the statement read. “The Salvation Army takes the safety of every family in our care extremely seriously.”
The shelter provides housing for up to 204 families, and the staff check the window safeguards weekly, Forker said.
“We are deeply concerned by this incident,” Forker wrote.
The City and County of Denver is responsible for building maintenance and security at the Tamarac shelter, Forker said.
“The Salvation Army has consistently raised concerns about the safety of the windows during regular meetings with city staff and leadership,” Forker wrote. “While we are grateful that action is now being taken, we urge the city to move swiftly and decisively to ensure these long-standing safety concerns are fully addressed to protect the families we serve.”
Derek Woodbury, director of marketing and communications at the city’s Department of Housing Stability, called the situation an “accidental falling.”
“The City is currently investigating the circumstances of this incident to ensure the safety of all shelter guests,” Woodbury wrote in a statement.
The girl who fell was awake and responsive after the fall but suffered multiple bone fractures and lacerations, said Denver Fire Department Capt. Dan Wilson.
A maintenance worker and the child’s father rescued her from the rooftop and took her to the lobby where an ambulance was waiting, Wilson said.
The girl was taken to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora.
It’s not clear what caused her to fall from the window.
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