ST. CHARLES, Mo. – One day after a home explosion in a St. Charles neighborhood sent three adults and two children to the hospital, investigators have not yet identified what caused the home to go up in flames.
“Initially, dispatch will say we need X amount of resources to handle this problem, and then when you get on the scene, and it becomes something else or much bigger than you initially thought,” said Fire Captain Kelly Hunsel, St. Charles City Fire Department. “That’s something that we train on all the time.”
According to Hunsel, just one adult remains hospitalized.
A quick-thinking neighbor heard the explosion around 11:30 a.m. Monday and called 911, then aided the injured occupants who had been in the home when it exploded.
“So, having those residents close by and render some aide before our folks got there and alert 911 was really valuable,” Hunsel said.
While the investigation continues, St. Charles firefighters are thankful for the more than 60 individuals involved and at the scene of the blast and fire in the historic Frenchtown neighborhood.
“Central County, ourselves, Robertson was there, St. Charles County Ambulance District. Especially when something like this occurs, you’ve got all-hands-on-deck approach,” Hunsel said. “And when you’ve got multiple patients, you get into communications challenges and transport challenges, and it becomes a large scene, and how do you get folks in and out of the scene. It’s something that we train for, but thankfully it doesn’t happen very often.”