Firefighters responded to a report of an explosion Tuesday night in north Durango.
David Linden said he had just eaten dinner and was watching “Our Planet” on Netflix when he heard and felt a blast that shook his condo.
“I went outside and was like, ‘Well, I don’t see anything,’” he said. “I was assuming someone left their gas on and blew half the building off or something.”
Linden said he could smell smoke in the air and could see people gathering along a sidewalk.
The blast occurred about 7 p.m. at 114 East Animas Road (County Road 250) near the intersection of county roads 251 and 250.
The explosion was the result of someone using a plasma cutter on a trailer, said Karola Hanks, fire marshal with the Durango Fire Protection District.
The cutting was occurring near a battery that hadn’t been disconnected. The electricity from the plasma cutter interacted with the battery, which created the release of gas from the battery followed by the explosion, Hanks said.
No one was seriously injured in the blast, she said.
“Sometimes you’re so close to the center of the explosion that your body doesn’t absorb the explosive concussion because the concussion is moving outward if you’re dead center in the middle,” Hanks said. “... Some days we’re extremely lucky and very grateful for what we have.”
Linden said firefighters arrived and investigated the scene, but they didn’t appear to be in a hurry as if someone were hurt.
“I’m sure people for blocks heard it, and within at least a one-block radius, probably felt it.”
shane@durangoherald.com
