DPS Team Members of the Month

Sergeant Adam Crouch and Investigators Richard Buffett and Randy Glover, of the Missouri Division of Fire Safety, are the DPS Sworn Team Members of the Month for July 2025 for their professionalism and tireless work on a complex investigation into the cause of an April house explosion that killed a child and critically injured two others.

On the afternoon of April 9, 2025, a residence in Lexington, Mo., exploded, leaving it in ruins and damaging eight surrounding residences. Adam and Richard arrived that evening and worked through most of the night, examining the scene and conducing initial interviews. Because of the sheer size of the scene, Randy and Investigator Corey Sloan joined the investigation on April 10.

DFS led the investigation, with team members coordinating seamlessly with the Lexington fire and police departments, Missouri Public Service Commission, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.

On April 10, Adam, Richard, Randy and Corey divided the duties of scene documentation, data collection, and interviews with victims and witnesses. They then came together as a team and created a timeline of events. The investigation showed a service crew hit a gas line that was not marked by gas company technicians prior to the crew digging. Gas migrated along an abandoned sewer line to the cellar of the house that exploded. The ignition source was either a light switching on or a cigarette being lit at the same time.

Investigator Corey Sloan, who was part of the investigation team, recently took a position with another investigative agency.