Propane Explosion at Xtreme Body & Paint Injures 1 in Jefferson City, MO

The owner of Xtreme Body & Paint in Jefferson City, MO suffered severe burns in a propane explosion there early this morning.  The blast occurred around 4:30 a.m. just after Chris Russell had gone into the garage to get a tractor to plow snow. A fire followed the explosion.

Firefighters told local media they could see the flames from miles away. When they arrived at the scene on Lomo Dive, they found the garage door had been blown out of its frame and launched 90 feet from the building, and flames shooting out of the stormwater drain in the parking lot. The ground was saturated with propane and electricity was surging through the building.

“The building was energized, we had electricity going through it and it was arcing on the outside of the building,” Regional West Fire Protection District Fire Chief Jack Brade told ABC17 News. “So, we treated the building as an energized building.”

An employee told the station that Mr. Russell, who was transported from the scene to an area hospital, is in stable condition.

The shop sustained serious damage. Investigators have not determined an official source of the explosion, but they suspect a gas leak because the ground was saturated with it when they arrived.

An investigation is ongoing.