An explosion this afternoon (Nov. 1) destroyed a rural De Soto home and injured a 63-year-old man who was transported by helicopter to Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur.
Officials with the De Soto Rural Fire Protection District did not know the extent of the victim’s injuries and did not yet know the cause of the blast, which was reported about 2 p.m.
The explosion, which leveled a farmhouse in the 5200 block of Knorpp Road, was heard by neighbors.
One of them, Karen Knox, 59, said she and her 18-year-old daughter, Katherine Knox, drove to the home after hearing the boom and the younger Knox helped pull the victim to safety.
“I thought a tree branch might have fallen on the house,” Karen Knox said. “My daughter and I jumped in her Blazer. As we got closer, we saw that the house had exploded.”
She said the victim had lived in the home with his son and his son’s family for several months.
The walls of the farmhouse had been blown out and the roof had dropped down onto the foundation, she said.
“We didn’t see any cars. We stopped, and I yelled out, ‘Is anyone here?’ I heard a man say, ‘I’m here. I’m trapped in the basement.’ He said he was hurt but he was OK. I asked if anyone else was at home, and he said, ‘No.’”
Katherine Knox called 911 on her cell phone and the pair flagged down a passing motorist.
“His (the motorist’s) name is Randy,” Karen Knox said. “I don’t know his last name. We yelled at him to stop. We needed help.”
The motorist and Katherine Knox walked onto the roof, which was now at ground level, and were able to pull the victim from the wreckage.
“He was pretty badly burned,” Karen Knox said. “And he had a gash on the back of his neck. I was told later that he was flown to Mercy burn center. I’m just glad he was not hurt worse.”
She said the motorist also turned off the gas line to the house.
Karen Knox said she and her daughter could smell gas from a propane tank that had been filled earlier that week.
“I’m so glad he (the motorist) stopped and was there. I wouldn’t have known how to turn off the gas,” Karen Knox said.
A small fire was burning in the basement when they arrived.
“The fire department had a very quick response,” Karen Knox said. “But the house was already in flames. If my daughter and that man weren’t able to pull him out, it definitely would have been a worse ending for this man, I’m sure.”
Karen Knox said her daughter, a student at Jefferson College, rarely is home on a Friday afternoon. “But today she was. I’m just so glad that she was here.”
She said the man has been helping his son and the son’s family remodel the farmhouse.
“They bought it five or six months ago,” Karen Knox said.
“Thank God, the rest of the family wasn’t home. I think they have young children,” she said. “I’m just so thankful they were able to get him out.”
Karen Knox said she spoke to a friend who lives in the Summerset Lake subdivision at least a mile from the scene the friend thought there had been an earthquake.
Authorities were still at the scene at 6 p.m
“We do not know the cause yet,” De Soto Rural Deputy Chief Eric Young said. “We’re waiting on the state fire marshal to arrive. The Jefferson County Task Force and the Sheriff’s Office fire investigator are here now.”
Young said the victim was the only person in the house and that the man suffered burns on his arms and face and a cut to the back of his neck, but did not identify the victim.