ATF Joins Fire Investigators At Denver Explosion Site

DENVER (CBS4)- Fire investigators entered what is left of a four-plex on Wednesday morning after an explosion destroyed the building and left one person critically injured the afternoon before.

Nine people were injured, one critically, on Tuesday afternoon when a large explosion, believed to have been caused by natural gas, heavily damaged a four-plex residential building located on Santa Fe Drive between 3rd and 4th Avenue.

It also damaged cars on the street and caused damage to a building across the street.

One person was trapped and had to be rescued by emergency crews and two of those who were injured were rushed to the hospital. One of those patients suffered traumatic, severe injuries.

One woman who lives in the four-plex described the damage to her unit.

"The ceiling is caved in, there are bricks and pieces of wall everywhere on the floor. There is dust covering everything and it's really hard to breathe," said Elliot Sandoval.

The block surrounding the explosion was closed to traffic Wednesday morning during the investigation. It was unclear how long that block would remain closed.

ATF joined Denver Fire crews and Denver city officials at the scene.

Denver Fire spent Tuesday night on scene combing the rubble with cadaver dogs to make sure that no one else was trapped.

There are several GoFundMe pages set up for victims, including Meghan Meehan who lost everything in the explosion and was hospitalized with injuries that put her out of work for some time; Elizabeth Litton, a single mother who also lost everything in the explosion; and Matt Brady who also lost everything in the explosion.

There was a natural gas explosion just one block on Nov. 22, 1996 that leveled a building at 5th and Santa Fe Drive.

Five people were injured in that explosion with three hospitalized.

In:
• Santa Fe Drive
• Explosion
• Denver Fire