A devastating home explosion in Gladstone left one man dead, the house he lived in destroyed and several nearby homes damaged Saturday morning, according to Gladstone Fire Chief Mike Desautels.
The cause of the explosion remains unclear, and the investigation has been turned over to the Missouri Fire Marshal of the Missouri Division of Fire Safety.
The Gladstone Fire Department, Gladstone Police Department, ATF and other organizations were on the explosion site Saturday afternoon. The American Red Cross was on the scene, too.
What happened in Gladstone explosion?
Firefighters responded just after 11 a.m. to Northeast 74th Terrace and North Main Street Saturday after multiple calls from residents about the explosion.
Dozens of neighbors gathered outside their homes to watch the aftermath of the blast, which blew debris over the road and across the street, causing significant damage to nearby homes, Desautels said.
Officials used cadaver dogs to uncover the remains of a deceased adult man. His remains were unidentifiable, so confirmation of his identity may take a while, Desautels said.
He was a resident of the home destroyed in the explosion, Desautels said. Other residents of the home were found safe, he said, but a large-breed dog was also killed in the blast.
North KC street closed
The street the explosion occurred on, Northeast 74th Terrace, will remain closed to traffic from North Oak Trafficway to Main Street for 24 to 48 hours as crews work to clear debris, Desautels said.
The home that exploded is three blocks northeast of Linden West Elementary School.
Multiple crews, including some from the Kansas City Fire Department provided extra support to extinguish the fire Saturday.
According to an Evergy outage map, the explosion caused several customers to lose power in the area. As of 2 p.m., 10 customers were still affected.
Desautels said the investigation into what caused the deadly explosion will likely take some time because of the significant debris it caused.
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