Tyler Pitt watches as his mom Susan Nieves holds her dog who was rescued more than a half hour after a fire broke out in her unit on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at an apartment complex at 30th and Peoria. Nieves renamed the 2-month old chihuahua/pomeranian mix Miracle. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel 
Susan Nieves and son Tyler Pitt are attended to by emergency responders on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at an apartment complex at 30th and Peoria. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel 
Tyler Pitt carries his mom’s dog away from the building after the dog was rescued on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at an apartment complex at 30th and Peoria. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel 
Tyler Pitt hands his mom, Susan Nieves, her dog Pancha after she was rescued over a half hour after the fire was put out on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at an apartment complex at 30th and Peoria. Nieves renamed the dog Miracle. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel 
Susan Nieves pets her dog Miracle after she was rescued a half hour after the fire was put out on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at an apartment complex at 30th and Peoria. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel 
Charles K. Davis stands outside of his apartment building with his dog, Little Bear, and his guitar after a fire broke out on the bottom floor on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at 30th and Peoria. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel 
Tyler Pitt stands out of the Abrigo Apartments as firefighters clean up after a fire started in his mother’s unit on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at 30th and Peoria. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel 
An Aurora firefighter holds Miracle, who was hiding in the apartment where a fire broke out, as Chasyon Murphy, 4, gives her a kiss on Tuesday Sept. 08, 2015 at 30th and Peoria. Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel
AURORA | A 4-year-old child playing with a lighter started a fire Tuesday morning that ripped through a north Aurora apartment, sending three people — including an Aurora police officer — and a dog to area hospitals.
According to Aurora fire, the blaze started around 10 a.m. in a first-floor unit at the Abrigo Apartments on the corner of East 30th Avenue and Peoria Street.
Capt. Diane Schroeder, a spokeswoman for the department, said the police officer and two residents were not seriously hurt but were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The blaze was largely contained to one unit, but Schroeder said a few others had smoke damage.
On the department’s official Twitter feed, fire officials said a 4-year-old child started the blaze. Fire investigators were questioning a boy about playing with lighters or matches as firefighters were dousing the last bits of the fire around 10:45 a.m.
One dog was hurt in the fire and another was found hiding in the apartment more than 30 minutes after the blaze started.
“Animals are remarkably resilient in fires,” Schroeder said.
Susan Nieves, who lives in the unit that burned, grabbed her dog, Princess, and her grandson and fled the blaze. She wasn’t able to get her other dog, Pancho, out of the fire, but firefighters found the dog hiding after they extinguished the fire. She said she is changing the dog’s name to Miracle.
“I thought she was going to be dead,” she said as paramedics gave oxygen to Princes before taking the dog to a veterinary hospital.
Charles K. Davis lives on the opposite side of the building from where the fire happened and said his dog, Little Bear, woke him up when the dog smelled smoke.
He said he grabbed his guitar — a Washburn with P-90 pickups — and his dog and bolted the building.
There is an Aurora fire station just a couple blocks north of the apartment complex and Davis credited the firefighters’ quick response is the only reason the blaze didn’t spread to his apartment.