Probe continues in weekend bonfire explosion

Even after interviewing 40 of nearly 100 witnesses, investigators haven't tracked down the person who tossed or kicked a gasoline can into a bonfire Friday night, Lt. David James of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department said Monday.

About a dozen people in a crowd of mostly teenagers from Jackson and Oak Ridge were seriously burned after the bonfire exploded at 3901 County Road 621. When the gasoline rained down, those who caught fire began rolling in the snow.

Before the explosion, the bonfire's flames reached seven feet into the air from a 10-foot wide pit. However, someone in the crowd apparently wanted bigger flames and added the gas can, James said.

No criminal charges have been filed against the bonfire party's hosts, Jonathon Edwards, 19, James McGee, 20, and Tyler Gerlach, 19. They were initially arrested on suspicion of supplying alcohol to minors but were later released by authorities pending a possible criminal summons, Sheriff John Jordan said.

The search for a suspect in the gas can throwing continues, James said.

"Everything is still real sketchy now," he said. "We still don't know for sure who did it, and right now, we've got nobody coming forward to say they saw anything."

Waiting for details

With most classes out for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, James said it may be a few days before the night's details are known. James said more interviews will be conducted, and an incident report should be finished this week.

"Let's let the kids talk among themselves," James said. "Between all of them, they'll produce a suspect, we hope."

Investigators are not releasing any of the victims' names. A 19-year-old Jackson woman was airlifted to St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis for treatment of second- and third-degree burns. James said Monday the girl received the worst of her injuries on her legs and that she may require skin grafts. At least 11 others were treated at and released from local hospitals. They were taken to the hospitals in private vehicles.

The explosion had such tremendous force, it extinguished the bonfire itself.

"The can rocketed up and blew over the top of a bar, flying about 50 to 75 yards away and across the road, where it started a small grass fire," James said.

Oak Ridge High School teacher Chris Barnhart knew some of the victims as his students. He wishes someone would come forward to law enforcement with more helpful information.

"It's sort of a helpless feeling," he said. "You hear enough on the periphery of little bits and pieces of what happened, but not what you need to go and get something done about it. The really bad part is we're in a vulnerable situation. Because if something really bad happens, they'll turn on us and ask why didn't the school do anything to stop it."

Witnesses horrifiedA man claiming to be a party guest telephoned the Southeast Missourian Monday to counter an earlier report from the sheriff's department that bullets had been thrown into the bonfire. The caller, who declined to give his name, said small firecrackers were thrown into the fire about an hour before the big explosion but not bullets.

"I'm just guessing, because I didn't see the gas go in, but it was probably tossed in by that one stupid one in the group -- there's always a stupid one," the man said. "If I knew who it was, I would already have said by now."

He described the explosion as horrifying for those standing next to the bonfire.

"There was a boom, and then a mushroom cloud of smoke and flame," the man said. "Then it was just mass hysteria. Everyone was trying to put each other out. We were in a snow-covered area, so people rolled in the snow."

A Jackson high school student, also declining to give her name, said she was frightened by the explosion.

"You heard this boom, and it was like a firecracker went off right next to your ear," she said. "All of a sudden this gas started falling all over everyone."

The girl was not injured, but her sister's stocking cap caught fire briefly, and she knew four of the injured guests.

"That was one of the worst moments in my life," she said. "There's nothing like seeing your friends running around on fire and you can't do anything to help."

Staff writer Callie Clark contributed to this report.

mwells@semissourian.com

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