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Questions linger as officials ID man critically injured in Albuquerque home explosion
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The 60-year-old man critically injured in an explosion at a Northeast Albuquerque home on Sunday has been identified, but the cause of the blast is still unclear.
Michael Nissen was brought to University of New Mexico Hospital before he was airlifted to a burn center in Arizona on Sunday night, according to UNMH spokesperson Chris Ramirez.
“He came to us in critical condition, but we were able to arrange transport within a couple of hours, so he wasn’t with us long,” Ramirez said.
Albuquerque Fire Rescue said Tuesday they found no evidence of a drug lab or a gas leak caused the explosion — which was felt for miles, damaged a neighbor’s home and left piles of debris all around.
When asked Wednesday, AFR spokesperson Jason Fejer said there was “no evidence” fireworks were involved and that “a bomb was not suspected.” Fejer said if a bomb was the suspected cause, federal authorities would be handling the investigation — like in the July 2 blast that killed a fireworks pyrotechnician.
AFR responded around 10:25 p.m. to the blast at Nissen’s home in the 1000 block of Walker NE, near Lomas and Eubank. When firefighters arrived, they found the house blown apart and on fire.
Firefighters rescued Nissen from the home and he was taken to the hospital. A neighboring home was also damaged by debris and the residents had to find somewhere else to stay.
