Raytown duplex explosion leaves several hurt as ‘further details are unknown,’ police say
Several people were hurt after a residential home in Raytown exploded and caught fire, according to police.
Shortly before 7 p.m., police and fire crews were called to the duplex in the 7500 block of Englewood Avenue in response to emergency calls. Authorities gave no word on the cause of the explosion, the number of injured or the extent of injury to anyone who may have been nearby or inside when it exploded.
“There were multiple injuries reported but further details are unknown,” Capt. Dyron Harper, a spokesman for Raytown police, said in a statement Monday night. “The cause is unknown at this time.”
Roughly half of the duplex structure was reduced to rubble. Several fire trucks and emergency vehicles, including police and emergency medical personnel, remained on the scene well into nightfall. The dead-end road was cordoned off by police tape. Smoke could be seen well into the distance for more than an hour after crews first arrived.
Neighbors, meanwhile, described a chaotic scene unfolding in the evening hours. Several onlookers gazed from the street as fire trucks slowly backed off the block.
One woman who lives nearby and asked not to be identified said she was driving in the area when the explosion went off. She saw roughly two dozen people running and screaming as several loud bangs rang out. She called her husband a half mile down the road, she said, who also heard a “loud boom.” She caught a glimpse of the damage.
“I thought, ‘That house is gone,’” she said.
Police say the Missouri Fire Marshal’s Office is leading the investigation. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting.
John Ham, spokesman for ATF’s Kansas City division, told The Star in an email Monday night that agents are confident the incident was isolated and there is no risk to the public.
