The cause of the explosion that leveled a plumber’s house in Centennial won’t be known for several days while investigators analyze evidence from the blast.
Authorities sent materials from the explosion to a lab for analysis, said Andy Lyon, spokesman for South Metro Fire.
Neighbors have said that 34-year-old Erik Johnson, a resident of the home believed to have died in the explosion, sent an e-mail to his ex-wife about suicide before the blast.
Johnson’s ex-wife could not be reached for comment and Johnson’s brother did not return a phone call today.
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Bureau Chief Bruce Williamson said he could not verify the content of the e-mails or deny what neighbors had heard about them.
The e-mails had not yet been read by fire investigators, Lyon said.
Neighbors also said that Johnson was working on remodeling the home and had been heard hammering into the evening.
The body found inside the house has not been formally identified and it could take the Arapahoe County Coroner several days to make a positive identification, Williamson said.
Neighbors said Johnson was nice enough to allow his neighbor to use his driveway to park a convertible silver Audi.
The Audi was scorched in the blast.
“He does not strike me as the type of person who would commit suicide,” said neighbor Nafi Onat. “It’s difficult to believe that he would (risk) hurting the neighbors.”
Johnson frequently helped the Onat family – who live two doors away – with their plumbing problems.
Today, Onat spent time changing a tire that went flat after he drove over some of the debris that scattered into the street from the explosion.
He said he and his wife, Maurine, are lucky to be alive and credit the South Metro firefighters for saving their house and responding quickly.
“I thought it was an airplane crash,” he said. “I did not think our house was going to be here.”
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or at fcardona@denverpost.com.
