A man who survived an explosion that leveled his house at 7724 Sherman St. in unincorporated Adams County was identified today as 52-year-old John Sankey, according to Sgt. Candi Baker of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.
Baker said that the cause of the explosion is still under investigation and the results will not be known for several weeks.
The massive explosion at about 9 a.m. Wednesday not only leveled Sankey’s home but also caused destruction up and down the street of the quiet residential neighborhood.
Flying debris from Sankey’s home damaged residences immediately to the south, north and west. Windows of cars on Sherman Street were blown out and debris was showered on to a residential street one block to the west.
Sankey was taken to Denver Health Medical Center, according to Baker.
Officials at the hospital said Sankey is not listed as a patient there currently. They declined to say whether he had been there earlier.
One of the people who helped rescue Sankey, neighbor Moses Pacheco, said as he ran toward the collapsed home, he started yelling for Sankey and heard Sankey respond, “Right here”.
Pacheco and other neighbors started taking boards off Sankey but turned the job over to firefighters when they arrived.Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
