Aurora, CO – Officials say a deadly fire early Tuesday that destroyed one home and badly damaged another was the result of a natural gas explosion.
Fire officials, who said the explosion was accidental, did not immediately release the identity of the person killed in the fire, but neighbors said an elderly woman who lived in the first of the two homes to catch fire had not been seen since the blaze began.
Residents first reported the fire about 6 a.m. on the 1500 block of Paris Court as a house explosion after they heard a loud boom and found flames shooting from the woman’s home. Two alarms were quickly called to the scene, Captain Diane Lord said.
“It sounded like an explosion,” said Jose Guerra, who lives behind the two homes.
Guerra said he awoke about 6 a.m. to a loud noise that shook his house and when he walked outside to investigate he saw flames nearly in his backyard. He was evacuated from his home along with his wife and daughter.
“Walking out of the house, it was breathtaking that something like that happened,” neighbor Brandon Trahan said.
Neighbors said when they approached the woman’s home to check on her, they were forced back by flames.
“The whole house was on fire,” said Dominica Lopez, 12, who woke up her neighbors to warn them of the blaze.
Images from a television news helicopter showed massive flames engulfing the homes, with several firefighters on scene.
The elderly woman’s home was a total loss and another was “significantly” damaged, Lord said.
By 7 a.m., crews had the blaze under control and were mopping up, though smoke still wafted from the home by late morning. The area remained cordoned off by police tape.
Fire officials brought in construction equipment to “bulldoze the home” about 9 a.m.