AURORA, Colo. — The Aurora Police Department and federal law enforcement officials are investigating a fireworks explosion at an Aurora dog park that killed a Strasburg man. The explosion happened just before 1 a.m. Thursday at the Grandview Dog Park, which is near the northwest area of Quincy Reservoir.
Police said the victim 42-year-old Christopher Caid and two others came to Aurora to visit "food and beverage businesses." The trio then went to the dog park with several large commercial-grade fireworks, police said. It's unclear whether the fireworks were homemade or bought out-of-state, according to APD.
Neighbors near the incident told 9NEWS the sound was so loud it woke them up in their sleep.
"Just heard this really, really loud boom and like it shook the windows," said Aurora resident Jarrett Stetten-Haro. "I kind of jumped. My heart was beating."
Caid was lighting one of the fireworks when it exploded, killing him, police said. The two other people with him were not injured.
"It's just a tragic thing that happened, and my heart goes out to the person’s family and the friends that were involved," said another neighbor, Nikki Fellers.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad responded and deactivated four other fireworks, police said. Federal officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) assisted with the investigation.
Investigators went to the Cain's home in Strasburg. They did not find evidence of any explosive-making activity, and there were no additional fireworks at the home, police said.
APD is investigating the death as "accidental," and does not anticipate any criminal charges in this case.
Others living in the area said they've been hearing overnight noises that sound like explosions for weeks, and have wondered if those booms are related to the explosion Thursday morning.
"It's always between the times of midnight and 4 a.m. It's never consistent," said Julia Thomas, a frequent visitor to the dog park who lives a few minute's drive away. Thomas said some of the booms she's heard, herself. Others she reads about on various neighborhood online forums.
"We shouldn't have to feel on high alert while we're playing outside," she said.
Others living nearby asked the police on social media if the deadly explosion this week was related to any of the previous explosion sounds heard in recent weeks, and if the same group of people was involved. APD responded:
"That isn't confirmed but we are looking into it as part of the ongoing investigation."
Thomas was left feeling a bit rattled by what happened not too far from her home, and wondering what happens next.
"I would like [police]to say – 'OK, it was this individual, we're investigating, and this is how we're going to make this community safer.'"
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