Joplin police officers Greg Batson and Tim Nielson arrived at 10:22 a.m. Tuesday at 904 S. McKinley Ave.
At 10:25 a.m., the men were down and calling for help on their radios.
Sometime during those three minutes, the house had exploded.
Joplin police Cmdr. Jim Hounschell said Batson, 36, and Nielson, 26, along with the home's resident, David Riley, 41, remained in critical condition late Tuesday afternoon in the burn unit at St. John's Regional Health Center in Springfield, where they were being treated for third-degree burns.
Fire and police investigators continued work throughout the day at the burned-out, two-bedroom house. Earlier in the day, officers had been called to check the well-being of Riley, who was reported to be suicidal.
The explosion is believed to have been caused when a gas line was pulled loose from a stove and the valve on the line opened, Hounschell said.
The explosion had Steven Smith on his feet and out the door of his home at 905 S. McKinley Ave. in seconds.
Smith, who works as a pizza deliveryman, said he ran across the street toward the burning house and found the two police officers trying to escape from the back of the house, one pinned under a part of the back porch.
"His arm was wedged under the back porch, and I helped get him out," Smith said. "After that, I helped get him to the back alley."
J. Dykman, a paramedic with Metro Emergency Transport System, said all three men suffered what he called "flash burns."
"I just got a quick look at them as they were loading, but I could see they had burns on the uncovered parts of their bodies," Dykman said. "Flash burns affect uncovered parts of a person's body, while those parts that are covered don't burn nearly as bad. When I saw them, they had bandages and burn gel on their hands and faces."
Batson and Nielson were taken to St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin and transported by helicopter to the burn unit at the Springfield hospital. Hounschell said Batson suffered burns on 35 percent of his body, and Nielson was burned on 45 percent of his body.
Hounschell said Riley suffered burns on 80 percent of his body. He was taken to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin before being flown to St. John's in Springfield.
Hounschell said the officers were sent to the home to check the well-being of Riley after the department received a call Tuesday morning from someone who reported Riley as being suicidal.
"The individual had called someone else and told that person he was suicidal," Hounschell said. "That person called police, and officers Batson and Nielson responded. As the officers drove up, they found Mr. Riley in the back yard. When they approached, he ran into the house and the officers followed."
Joplin fire Chief Gary Trulson said firefighters found the home in flames when they arrived. He said firefighters attacked the flames from outside the home and focused on protecting the two homes to the north and south. He said both those homes had superficial damage from heat and debris.
Dawayne Lasiter, an investigator with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety, said the force of the explosion and the persistence of the fire indicated that the air in the home was saturated with gas. He said investigators will have to talk to the injured officers or Riley before they can say what caused the gas to explode.
Officers from law-enforcement departments across Jasper and Newton counties rushed to the scene, along with 24 Joplin firefighters and ambulances with METS and the Newton County Ambulance Service, in response to the injured officers' radio calls for help.
Hounschell said officers from the two sheriffs' departments, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and police departments in Webb City, Duquesne and Carl Junction handled routine calls in other parts of the city and controlled the crowds at the scene while Joplin officers focused on investigating the explosion.
Hounschell said he believes the officers' uniforms and bulletproof vests protected most of their bodies from burns, but that Riley, who was wearing much lighter clothes, suffered more severe burns.
