St. Louis County is investigating the cause of an explosion that shook north county this morning, destroyed five homes and damaged others and sent several people to the hospital.
Around 9:15 a.m., Florissant fire crews responded to reports of a three-alarm fire and multi-house explosion on the 3700 block of Candlewyck Drive and 3900 block of Belcroft in Black Jack. There were reports of people trapped in the rubble, and responding firefighters conducting search and rescue found three victims, who were taken to area hospitals.
In reference to the home explosion in the North County precinct, at this time at least three people were transported with injuries from the scene. The call came out about 9:13 AM from the 13,800 block of Evan Aire Drive in unincorporated St. Louis County. Fire officials from the… pic.twitter.com/zxBCSzCDZJ
— St. Louis County PD (@stlcountypd) August 25, 2025
Around noon, the Black Jack Fire Protection District said several patients had been transported to the Mercy burn unit. No fatalities had been reported as of Monday afternoon.
There’s widespread damage to homes and condominiums surrounding the blast, and residents have been advised not to return to their homes until they have been assessed for safety. St. Louis County staff members are putting hazard assessments on homes as they work their way through the neighborhoods.
Emergency workers placed red notices on about 90% of the damaged homes across the few blocks indicating it is not safe to enter, Black Jack Fire Protection Chief Paul Peebles said. Yellow signs indicate owners can enter the homes to take belongings. Green notices mean people can enter their homes. Gas service has been turned off to about 30 homes, Spire officials said at a Monday afternoon press conference. Electricity has also been shut off.
Speaking with reporters outside St. Angela Merici Church, U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell said he was grateful to first responders and shocked at the damage.
“I've never seen anything like this,” said Bell, D-St. Louis County. “The scale of the tornado was obviously much worse. But for this small area, the block where this happened, five homes that are completely destroyed, just completely destroyed … it is truly a sight to behold.”
Residents gathered outside the homes recalled the power of the early morning blast.
Linda Woods, 73, said her house shook, and she heard a sound so profound that she compared it to an atomic bomb. When it was over, she saw that everything in her home was in disarray — some windows even knocked right out their frames.
“A lot of things that wasn't in the way it's supposed to be,” Woods said. “And it's had me so upset and trembling and scared because I didn't know if another one was going to happen, or what. I wasn't sure. So I was so upset, I really was, because I didn't know what was going on.”
Another neighbor, Richard Lang, 57, said his back patio door was blown off, his fireplace and mantel are “done,” and the mirror in his bedroom fell down.
Cosandra Lewis, 70, was asleep in her home on Candlewyck Club Drive when the explosion happened.
“It felt like the walls were coming in. The house was coming down. It was a really strange, scary feeling,” she said. Her mirror and pictures fell off the walls, and she threw her hands up to protect herself. “My car alarm was going off, and I heard a screaming voice from outside. It was just real chaotic. I had no clue what was going on.”
She thought maybe it had been an earthquake and ran outside to see fire trucks and ambulances.
Woods also went outside and found black smoke billowing down the street and heard people screaming.
On the ground lay a young man with “a lot of burns on him,” Woods said. An ambulance came by and picked him up.
Spire spokesperson Molly Rose told St. Louis Public Radio that the company’s infrastructure was undamaged. The utility also said it had no reports of a smell of gas or digging that could have damaged lines at a press conference Monday.
St. Louis County bomb and arson investigators and the ATF are looking into the source of the explosion. Peebles said it’s standard to call in bomb and arson investigators when there’s an explosion.
The American Red Cross has opened a shelter at St. Angela Merici in Florissant for residents displaced by the explosion. A spokesperson said the church can hold up to 200 people. St. Louisans who need help can also call 1-800-RED-CROSS.
See more photos of the scene from St. Louis Public Radio Visuals Editor Brian Munoz.
This story has been updated with details from a Monday afternoon press conference.
