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Mother, Son Return From Cemetery To Find Home Burned

DENVER (CBS4) - A mother and son were remembering a loved one when they got the news their house was on fire Sunday afternoon.

The fire occurred in the 1500 block of West Byers Place. When firefighters arrived they found smoke and flames coming from the home.

Nobody was home at the time of the fire and no firefighters were injured.

Jose Luis Hernandez worked very hard to renovate the home. But on Sunday as his wife and son remembered him, his house caught fire in the front bedroom.

"So I run out and sure enough the whole block was covered in heavy grey smoke," neighbor Chuck Maldanado said.

As Maldanado captured video and took pictures of the fire he found himself getting emotional.

"Very heartbreaking; my mom and myself were out here almost getting teary because, you know, we know them," he said.

For the owner, it was already a heartbreaking day. Victalia Fries and her son were coming home from the cemetery where her husband was buried 11 years ago.

"We were on our way, we got a call from a neighbor who said that the house was on fire," Oscar Hernandez said. "At first my mom didn't believe him."

But when they arrived they saw the firefighters.

"As soon as we saw that, my mom started breaking down in tears," Hernandez said.

Maldanado said he went inside the home to give his neighbors a closer look at what they lost.

"They just wanted to see how badly the house was damaged and how much they lost," Maldanado said.

Firefighters said the blaze began in an electrical outlet.

Fries is covered by insurance.

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