Gas leak near site of deadly home explosion in Lexington prompts evacuation
City officials in Lexington, Missouri, reported a gas leak in a residential neighborhood that briefly caused evacuations Monday.
The city announced that the reported leak, at 1709 Bloom Street, was repaired around 12:10 p.m., about 40 minutes after an initial report of the issue. It was not immediately clear what caused the leak.
The location was just down the street from the site of a deadly home explosion in April that rattled the small community about an hour east of Kansas City.
In the April explosion, Alistair Lamb, a 5-year-old boy, was killed in the blast at a home on nearby Franklin Avenue. Lamb’s sister and father were also severely injured in the explosion.
Around 11:30 a.m. Monday, the city said an evacuation was in progress because of a gas leak and asked residents to avoid the area. Around 12:10 p.m., the city said the leak had been dealt with and said the evacuation area was cleared.
City officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Federal investigators probing the home explosion said a fiber optic contractor that had been working near the home that was destroyed drilled into an unmarked gas line operated by Liberty Utilities. After the leak was discovered, a business near the site was evacuated but homes nearby were not, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report.
Last month, The Star reported about other gas leaks that unnerved area residents in the wake of the deadly home explosion.
After two gas lines were struck during a 24-hour period, Lexington’s City Council approved a moratorium of up to 90 days on underground boring during a special meeting Oct. 3.
Two days earlier, city officials announced in a Facebook post that they had met with representatives from local utilities, including Evergy, Liberty Utilities, Comcast, United Fiber, Universal Subcontracting and the Missouri Public Service Commission, and emphasized to the group that the city “will not tolerate any more incidents like those happening in the last few days.”
The city said a plan was made to thoroughly review the layout of utilities in the city and said the companies made a commitment to communicate better with residents.
In a video on Facebook last week, City Administrator Shawnna Funderburk said the meeting was “very frank and very direct” and said she told the companies if the public’s safety wasn’t the most important thing to them, “then you won’t be here.” She said during the moratorium the city would work to enact stricter requirements for companies working in the city.
“We are responsible for almost 5,000 lives, and we take that as the most serious thing,” she said.
This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 1:02 PM.
