Bomb squad investigates Aurora home after fire, resident admission

AURORA, Colo. — A fire was the first thing that drew emergency crews to an Aurora home Monday night. An admission from a resident was the second.

Shortly after that resident admitted to having bomb making materials in the home, an Arapahoe County bomb squad was on the scene at 1490 South Bahama Street, just north of South Tower Road and East Iliff Avenue. Evacuations orders were issued for several of the man’s neighbors in the area shortly thereafter.

According to the Aurora Fire Department, calls came in reporting the fire at approximately 11 p.m. Monday. The resident was forthcoming when emergency crews arrived, telling them he had bomb making materials in a backyard shed.

After removing some devices from that shed, Aurora police arrested one of the resident and charged him with possession of explosive devices. As of 6:30 a.m., the bomb squad had left the scene while police waited for a search warrant to search the home for any more harmful devices.

Neighbor John Bailey said a couple lives in the home with a teenage son, and that he was surprised to hear that there were bomb making materials in the home.

“That’s a little unnerving,” Bailey said. “I didn’t expect that from (the resident). He seemed like a normal kind of guy.”