Residents of an Arapahoe County apartment complex that burned in a fatal arson last month say they’re being barred from the building and will lose the chance to potentially collect “crucial evidence of fire code violations” if repairs are allowed to proceed.

Five people who live at the Ivy Crossing Apartments filed a motion Friday seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent “any changes to the building” and to stop anyone from entering their units.

Tanya Larby, Rachel and Abigal Jones, Anthony Vargas and Gloriluz Lebron said they have “a reasonable fear that vital evidence will be lost if repairs to the building are conducted before they… have been able to enter the premises,” according to the motion filed in Denver District Court.

“Denying plaintiffs the ability to retrieve belongings and document evidence of their property loss will make it exponentially harder to realize their claims for renters’ insurance and to prove their damages in a potential civil case,” the motion continues.

A judge on Saturday ordered the tenants to contact the court on Monday to schedule a hearing.

One person died and two people were hospitalized in the early morning of April 8 after a fire broke out at the apartment complex, 2470 South Quebec St. Two firefighters were also taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Investigators said the fire was deliberately caused.

Two months before the deadly blaze, fire inspectors found multiple fire code violations at Ivy Crossing, according to reports obtained by Denver7. Some buildings lacked manual fire alarms and working fire extinguishers.

No residents have been allowed to reenter the building since the fire, and property management has refused to return messages and phone calls, the tenants alleged in the complaint.

They also said their belongings are at risk after learning from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office of at least one instance of looting.

A spokesperson for that office, Deputy John Bartmann, said one person was arrested for trespassing but “we could never pin a theft on them.”

Remediation crews did find a gun in one of the apartments, along with jewelry that was bagged up, he said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the arson, Bartmann said.

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