Explosion Forces People to Flee

Some residents in Columbia are without gas Saturday night, following an explosion that forced them out of their homes. Four public housing units in the 200 block of Lincoln Drive were evacuated around 11 a.m. after residents reportedly heard a loud explosion and saw two doors that were blown out.A neighbor who lives next to the building said he heard the explosion around 1:30 a.m.”it was really loud, cause my neighbors down the next block heard it,” said Tony Goldman. Goldman initially thought a car had slammed into the building, but it was dark out and he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.It wasn’t until hours later when the sun came out and he saw the damage that he called police. Columbia police cordoned off neighboring streets after smelling a foul odor coming out of the doors damaged from the blast. Columbia Fire Department investigators said they are looking into the stove and also multiple bug bombs found inside the home as a potential cause of the eruption. Neighbors told ABC 17 News that a woman had just moved in and she was not home at the time of the blast. A serviceman from the gas company, Ameren, monitored gas levels in the morning and reported that the range was normal and residents were let back in within an hour of being asked to leave their homes. Two homes were still taped off Saturday night as fire inspector Lt. Lisa Todd continued to investigate the cause. The damage is estimated at $50,000 and the cause is yet to be determined.