Cabin explosion kills a dog and leaves a man with severe burns

By Karla Sosa

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    PARK COUNTY, Colorado (KDKA) — A Park County man is in the hospital after his cabin exploded.

“He heard a boom in the back of his room like a big boom. So he went to go investigate to see what was going on. And he seen that there was like a fire. So he went to go get something to try to put it out. But at that moment another explosion went off,” said April Gallegos, daughter of the victim.

Gallegos is reliving what her father Michael Sanchez went through the night of August 23rd.

“He was laying there just thinking he was going to die, and he felt like a presence come up around him and just gave him the strength to crawl out of there,” said Gallegos.

The fire destroyed everything in its path and killed Sanchez’s four-legged best friend.

“He lost his dog. He lost everything he owned, from his truck to all his belongings, all his memories. His late wife’s memories were in that cabin, and everything is gone,” said Gallegos.

With third-degree burns, it will be a long road to recovery for Sanchez.

“He got severe burns. He got a concussion on his head. He has a crack going down. He had to get skin grafting the day before yesterday on his back, buttock, and leg,” said Gallegos.

The Hartsel Fire Protection District is currently investigating what happened. Fire crews said it will take 2-3 weeks to find out the cause of the fire.

Gallegos has an idea of what could have caused the fire.

“Everything does run away from propane in his cabins, so I’m guessing when the fire ignited it, it just blew up everything. He had two 500-gallon propane tanks outside that were burned,” said Gallegos.

The family has created a GoFundMe page to help out Sanchez.

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