Construction company involved in Lexington explosion says subcontractor followed required procedures

LEXINGTON, Mo. (KCTV) - The CEO of the construction company involved in Wednesday night’s tragic house explosion in Lexington, Missouri, said preliminary information gathered points to the subcontractor following all required procedures before, during, and after the accident.

Sellenriek Construction CEO Steve Sellenriek issued condolences and prayers after a 5-year-old boy was killed, and a father and 10-year-old girl were hospitalized with critical injuries due to the incident.

“We work to make our communities better every day, so this situation is especially heartbreaking to everyone at our company,” Sellenriek said in a statement shared Thursday night. “We are actively working with the authorities conducting the investigation and will provide any information needed to determine exactly what happened last night. We are committed to a complete understanding of the facts surrounding this incident.”

Sellenriek said his company’s preliminary understanding is that a subcontractor struck an unmarked underground gas line while installing a fiber optic cable.

“According to the information we have gathered as of this moment, the subcontractor followed all required procedures before, during, and after the accident,” Sellenriek said, “including notifying Missouri 811... to determine the location of all underground utilities before the work began. After striking the gas line, our subcontractor immediately called 911 to alert emergency responders, and 811, the emergency number to notify the relevant utilities.”

KCTV learned Thursday that OSHA -- the Occupational Safety and Health istration -- is inspecting three companies that were on site. OSHA has six months to complete the inspection and doesn’t plan to provide an update until that is finished.

“We will continue to the investigation, and this community,” Steve Sellenriek said.

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