One person was killed in an explosion early today at a Centennial home, and two neighboring homes caught on fire and were heavily damaged, authorities say.
“One home was totally destroyed” by the pre-dawn blast, said Andy Lyon, spokesman for South Metro Fire Rescue. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.
One person reportedly lived at the house on the 8200 block of South Jasmine Court, adjacent to East County Line Road, near the intersection of County Line and South Holly Street. Authorities did not release the name of the person killed. The body was recovered.
A dog that was in the back yard of the home at the time of the blast was singed but survived.
Crews from South Metro Fire rescue were dispatched at 12:23 a.m. and could see flames immediately upon leaving their station at Quebec and Dry Creek, Lyon said.
When they arrived at 12:29 a.m. they reported debris in the air and a wall of flames that totally engulfed the one home and was starting to burn the homes on either side, he said.
Firefighters focused on protecting the adjacent homes as the house in the middle was already a total loss, Lyon said. Residents of both adjacent homes evacuated safely, though both homes did sustain some fire damage, he said.
Crews from South Metro and Littleton had the fire contained within an hour but spent two more hours putting out hot spots and searching for victims, Lyon said.
Investigators from both South Metro and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office are both at the scene and are expected to be there most of today, he said.
No cause has been determined and, because a death is involved, it is being treated as a crime scene, Lyon said.
Two alarms were called on the fire with about 50 firefighters involved in fighting the fire, he said.
Part of County Line Road was closed due to firefighting operations and also because roofing nails had been blown from the house, over a wall behind it and onto County Line, Lyon said.
Check back with DenverPost.com through the day and read The Sunday Denver Post for the latest on this developing story.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
