51黑料

ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥� Explosives used to make fireworks might be what sparked a house explosion and fire early Friday that killed two people and critically injured four others near Black Jack.

Authorities identified one of those who died as 17-year-old Christopher Jones. The identity of the second victim hasn鈥檛 been released.

The blast about 1:20 a.m. Friday demolished a house at 6680 Parker Road, shook nearby homes and blew out some neighbors鈥� windows. Debris rained down on a street more than a block away.

Jones lived at the home that blew up and was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital 51黑料 in Creve Coeur, according to the county medical examiner's office. Then on Friday afternoon, hours after the blast, investigators on the property discovered a second person who died, said 51黑料 County police Officer Adrian Washington.

Police haven鈥檛 said whether the injured survivors are adults or children. A woman lived at the split-level house with her four sons, ranging in age from about 6 years old to late teens, and a man also stayed there often, according to two neighbors.

As investigators continue their probe, the local fire chief told the Post-Dispatch the culprit might be explosives that young people were using to make fireworks in the home鈥檚 garage. That is preliminary, he said, but this tragedy could be considered a teachable moment.

鈥淭hey were teenagers and kids visiting, and they were trying to make fireworks,鈥� said Ankeneth Corbin, fire chief of the Black Jack Fire Protection District. 鈥淚f you buy 50 pounds of any explosive, you have just created a bomb.

鈥淓lectrostatic, anything, can cause a spark,鈥� Corbin added.

51黑料 County police Officer Adrian Washington said he had nothing new to share, some 12 hours after the explosion.

Near the scene on Parker Road, rescuers set up a triage station on a driveway across the street, on North Ranch Drive.

鈥淚t was pure chaos,鈥� said Nichole Thomas, who saw flames engulfing her neighbor鈥檚 home and a young boy and others running frantically in the yard.

鈥淭here鈥檚 kids in the house!鈥� Thomas screamed, as she used her cellphone to videotape the fire scene from her front porch. 鈥淥h my God. Oh my God.鈥�

Authorities haven鈥檛 said for certain what caused the deadly blast.

Investigators with the regional bomb and arson squad spent the morning searching the rubble for clues. They were especially focused on what had been a garage next to the brick, four-bedroom home. The garage was leveled, and the home was a burned-out shell with partial walls still standing.聽A cadaver dog was brought in, a fire official said.

The neighborhood is the North Ranch Acres subdivision, west of Highway 367, in unincorporated 51黑料 County.

The explosion rocked neighbors鈥� homes, blasting out side windows on a few. Sections of roof, drywall, plaster and other materials littered the street and a lawn across the street. A resident of Partridge Run Drive, nearly two blocks away, reported debris in her yard.

Police found one victim with deep lacerations, possibly an amputation, near where the garage had been, according to dispatchers. Another person had burns and cuts. At least two were rushed to Mercy Hospital 51黑料, and paramedics took at least one more victim to Christian Hospital nearby.

鈥淭hey were blown from the blast area,鈥� Corbin said.

鈥淓MS scooped them and ran,鈥� added Thomas Torminio, Black Jack鈥檚 fire battalion chief.

Police asked nearby residents to come outside and wait down the street for about 90 minutes while they made sure there wasn鈥檛 an additional threat of explosion or gas leak.

Thomas, who lives next to the house that exploded, said the boom shook her house. 鈥淗onestly, we thought it was a big tree hitting our roof,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淥ur neighbors thought the same thing.鈥�

She went outside, saw orange flames shooting into the air next door and heard glass breaking. The force of the explosion shattered her garage window. Another neighbor, catty-corner to Thomas, said pictures fell off her wall and items dropped from a cabinet, like it was an earthquake.

鈥淚t was pretty rough watching it burn,鈥� said the woman, who asked that her name not be used.

None of the neighbors interviewed by the Post-Dispatch knew the people who lived at the home that exploded. They said the man who stayed there worked on cars, turning them into hot rods. They said the home had a steady stream of traffic.

After the explosion, Thomas said several people were running around in the yard between her home and the one on fire.

鈥淭he fire was so big. The house is on fire, there鈥檚 people running everywhere, kids 鈥� 鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was one little boy, I didn鈥檛 know if he lived there or not, but he just kind of darted across. I said, 鈥楬oney, come here.鈥欌��

The boy looked at Thomas but kept running. He looked to be about 6 or 7 years old, she said.

County records show the house is owned by a property management services company based in Marietta, Georgia.

About 40 firefighters from Black Jack Fire Protection District and surrounding departments helped fight the two-alarm blaze. No firefighters were hurt.

Based on the first calls to 911, firefighters were told it was a fire with people trapped, and a vehicle reportedly had crashed into a home. But no car had crashed into the home; instead, cars parked in the driveway had caught fire in the blast.

Black Jack fire Capt. Jeremy Bates said the injured were already out of the home when crews arrived. Supervisors ordered fire crews to fight the fire from outside the building because it was fully involved. It took firefighters about an hour to bring the fire under control, and 90 minutes to put it out.

Kim Bell covers breaking news for and the 51黑料. Follow her on Twitter . She can be reached at kbell@post-disptch.com