‘Thought it was a bomb’: Deadly home explosion rocks Gladstone neighborhood

GLADSTONE, Mo. (KCTV) - A Northland neighborhood was rocked Saturday by a powerful home explosion that killed one person and a dog, shattered windows nearby, and sent debris flying through the air.

Authorities are still investigating what caused the blast, which neighbors described as nothing short of terrifying.

“I heard a loud bang, and I look out my window and there’s just so much smoke and fire,” said Michael Farris, who lives a street away from the explosion.

Emergency crews responded to the scene near Northeast 74th Terrace, just west of North Oak Trafficway, around midday. When they arrived, they battled flames.

Ashleigh Tomlin, who lives next door, said the explosion was so intense she feared the worst.

“I thought it was a bomb. I thought we were being attacked, Tomlin said. “I thought it was terrorism or something.”

Her Ring doorbell camera captured the moment of the blast from two different angles.

“The house shook like a bomb had hit, and the fixtures fell off of the ceiling in the kitchen, knocked all of us off our feet,” she said. “We just knew that the ceiling was coming down and like, fixtures were falling, and windows were being blown out. Our car alarms were going off, the windows in our cars blew out. We grabbed the animals and ran.”

The shockwave was felt far beyond the immediate neighborhood, according to Calvin Childress. He works at a jewelry store just down the road.

“It was like an atomic bomb. It shook the chair a fourth of a mile away,” Childress said.

Childress told KCTV5 he initially tried to see if he could help anyone inside the home.

“I got ready to go around to the back to see if I can the elderly couple. But then there was another small explosion, so that backed me up. I waited and waited, tried to go around again to the back, another explosion. So I just turned and left,” Childress said.

Fire crews worked cautiously to contain the blaze and begin search and rescue efforts, but the three remaining walls of the home posed a serious threat to their safety because of the chance that they could fall.

Using cadaver dogs, investigators located the remains of one individual and a large dog around 4 p.m., according to Gladstone Fire Chief Mike Desautels.

“We have located the remains of one resident of the home within the structure, and one large dog,” Chief Desautels said.

Tomlin, the next-door neighbor, said the man who died had lived next to her family for decades and was always kind.

“Just really kind, always waved, always talked. I mean, my husband’s lived next door to him for 25 years. It’s just, yeah, sad,” Tomlin said.

The identity of the deceased has not yet been released. Authorities were able to make with a second resident who lived at the home but was not inside during the explosion.

Investigators with the ATF are working alongside Gladstone Fire to determine the cause of the explosion. While it remains unknown, Spire briefly cut gas service in the area as a precaution. Service was later restored.

Fire Chief Desautels said there is no ongoing danger to the community.

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