Fire spread from a wooden deck to the walls and attic of a unit at Colorado Court Apartments early Friday, eventually heavily damaging four units at the complex in the 1900 block of Colorado Boulevard.

DRC/Al Key

Colorado Court Apartments resident Sondra Hill talks with an employee of the apartment complex Friday about an overnight fire that heavily damaged four units. Hill lives just across the parking lot from building that burned. No one was injured, but a cat died in the blaze, Assistant Fire Marshal Chad Weldon said.

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The blaze began about 1 a.m. outside the apartment on the southwest end of a line of apartments near the manager’s office. Denton Assistant Fire Marshal Chad Weldon said it quickly went to two alarms, as firefighters realized the fire had spread into the attic. Two first-floor and two second-floor units received smoke, fire and water damage, he said.

Weldon estimated the damage at $250,000. There were no injuries but a cat died in the fire, he said.

The fire appeared to have started in a waste basket on the wooden deck.

“There were smoking materials and wood and paper debris there,” he said. “We are still investigating, but we cannot disregard the possibility that smoking materials were the cause of the fire.”

A woman who answered the telephone at the Colorado Court complex would not comment on the number of people displaced or whether the complex would be able to find other housing for them.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com.