ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Investigators have ruled out criminal behavior in the explosion that destroyed five houses and damaged almost two dozen others in a subdivision near Black Jack, police said Tuesday evening.

The bomb and arson squad was now looking at the blast as a "likely gas incident," St. Louis County Police Chief Col. Kenneth Gregory said at a short press conference at the site of the explosion.

Gregory rejected rumors that the house was a meth lab.

He also said power had been restored to the neighborhood and it was safe for residents to return to the area — though authorities have said that some of the houses, those with red tags, are not safe to enter.

Investigators, however, are still working, he said.

For Tuesday's full report see: After explosion, cleanup starts slowly in

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