A preliminary investigation by St. Louis County firefighters points to natural gas as the likely cause of the explosion that ripped through a north St. Louis County neighborhood on Monday.

"There's no criminal offense that happened here," said St. Louis County Police Chief Col. Kenneth Gregory in a Tuesday evening press conference. "I know you probably heard on social media — meth labs, things of that sort, but there was nothing like that [investigators] determined.”

Gregory said investigators are working with Spire to confirm the cause of the explosion, though the utility previously reported that none of its infrastructure was damaged in the incident.

Dozens of Spire trucks were dispatched to the community near Black Jack following the blast.

The police department’s bomb and arson squ

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