A maintenance man burned in an apartment fire Tuesday was more worried about others than himself.  

A neighbor who heard Mike Van Dam’s screams said the 50-year-old “wasn’t walking normal” because of the burns on his legs, yet he ran from door to door at the complex yelling for residents to get out.

The 323 S. 18th St. apartment complex caught fire around 11:20 a.m., destroying three of the five units and displacing residents, including Van Dam.

Van Dam was taken to a burn center in Denver, property owner G. Dean Bryan said. He was told Van Dam suffered first-degree burns on his right leg between his ankle and his knee.

Five people were living in the complex, though one person was in the process of being evicted, Bryan said. The American Red Cross of Southeastern Colorado assisted eight people.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Bryan said it was “caused by someone being careless with gasoline.”

The fire made quick work of the complex, ripping through three of the five units before firefighters were able to stop it from spreading. A shared attic and property in the units made the fire “stubborn” to knock down, Colorado Springs Fire Chief Chris Riley said.

The building is a former military barracks converted into apartments, Riley said. It was built in 1913, according to the El Paso County Assessor’s Office.

The Assessor’s Office valued the property at $180,913.

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