‘I Still Can’t Believe It’: Westminster Families Out Of Their Homes After Stratus Townhomes Explosion

By Karen Morfitt

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    WESTMINSTER, Colorado (KCNC) — Hours after an explosion that destroyed an eight-unit townhome building on Sheridan Boulevard in Westminster, families stood in the bitter cold watching the firefight. Hector and his wife were among them.

“Ours is the one that took the hit because it is right in front of the one that blew up,” he said.

He and his family left Stratus Townhomes less than an hour before the explosion that happened around 1:30 Wednesday afternoon in the 8300 block of Sheridan Boulevard.

“As we were pulling out, we were hearing the fire alarms go off, but we didn’t think nothing off it because they were installing new smoke detectors, so we just figured maybe they were testing them,” he said.

According to a news release from the fire officials, contractors were working in the area around the time of the fire and explosion and out of an abundance of caution Xcel Energy crews are now inspecting other buildings in the complex.

When Hector returned to his building, fire crews were blasting his unit and everything inside with their water hoses.

A set of keys pulled from the home are a sign of the damage that was waiting inside.

“They are frozen…. I can only imagine everything else is gone,” he told CBS4’s Karen Morfitt.

Neslie and dozens of others were also watching the firefight. She doesn’t live at the Stratus complex, but rushed there after she was unable to reach her grandmother who lives in a neighboring building.

“I drive all the way from my home. I called my sister. She told me the next apartment boiler exploded,” she said.

Her grandmother’s building was one of four that had to be evacuated for most of the afternoon.

“I think she probably heard the noise, but she felt the explosion,” Neslie said.

While it’s unclear what may have caused the blast, one thing is certain: families who called this building home will not be returning anytime soon.

“I still can’t believe it. I don’t know what to think,” Hector said.

The American Red Cross arrived on scene shortly after the explosion and will be helping families find hotels.

Two people and one firefighter suffered minor injuries.

Westminster Fire officials say the investigation into the cause will take an extended period and that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms or ATF will be assisting (that it is common, not an immediate sign that there is any sort of federal investigation underway).

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