LEXINGTON, Mo. — Crews worked to turn off the gas meters throughout the Lexington community on Thursday, nearly 48 hours after a deadly home explosion.
The explosion killed five-year-old Alistair Lamb and injured his sister and father. Both are still in the hospital with critical injuries.
Father Jacob Cunningham made it through surgery on Thursday morning and is off a ventilator.
Cami Lamb, 10, is responding to questions at the hospital, according to grandmother Cathie Woods.
"It makes me feel great to know that they're both expected to make a full recovery, physically," Woods said. "They're going to come home, but that doesn't mean they're not going to have issues that they won't have to deal with the rest of their lives."
Relatives say the family had just arrived at their home near 18th Street and Franklin Street when it exploded around 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Fiber optic crews hit a gas line nearby nearly three hours earlier.
The remnants of the Cunninghams' home are still scattered all across the block, in addition to the several other homes that were affected by the blast.
"Devastating isn't a strong enough word," Woods said.
Woods is driving back and forth between two different hospitals, an hour and a half away from Lexington, picking up the pieces along the way.
"Those glimmers of hope are really all I can look for because if I dwell on the negative side of it, it's not going to do anybody any good," Woods said.
While Jacob and Cami are on the road to recovery, some wounds take longer to heal.
Five-year-old Alistair Lamb never made it out of the house on Wednesday night.
"For the short time that he was on this Earth, he put a big impact on a lot of people's hearts," Woods said. "I know on mine specifically, it will be there forever."
Woods' house is only six blocks away from the Cunninghams.
"I heard a huge explosion and the house shook and rattled and the lights flickered," Woods said. "I looked at the clock and knew that's usually the time that [Jacob] gets home, so I started calling, and I didn't get an answer. Mothers know when something's wrong with their children."
Emergency crews originally told Woods all three members of her family made it out and went to the hospital. It wasn't until later that she learned Alistar had died inside.
Woods delivered the heartbreaking news to Jacob when he woke up on Thursday.
"It's not easy to break your son's heart," Woods said.
Woods explained that Jacob was still mourning the loss of his wife, who passed away from diabetes complications in 2023, just two days after their wedding. He was supposed to pick up her ashes on Thursday at the funeral home right behind his house.
"Her remains were not in the [destroyed] home, and he still gets to have her," Woods said. "That's a small blessing in this tragedy, that at least she can still be a part of their family."
It's a silver lining in a storm of sadness.
"The only way I knew how to tell Jacob was that Alistair left his arms to go straight to his mother's," Woods said. "He left Jake's arms and he went to Rachel's arms."
It's been a whirlwind of emotions for Woods, taking care of the aftermath.
"Right now, I haven't dealt with grief," Woods said. "I've dealt with surgeries and induced comas and what the future's going to hold."
Questions remain about the gas line break, why no one was notified while emergency crews were on scene, and what emergency protocol is among the different agencies.
"It's not just on one person or one company," Woods said. "I think there's a lot of system failure that went into place."
But for now, Woods is standing strong with her family and community.
"You got to look for the little glimmers of hope in everything," Woods said.
The family has set up an account at the Bank of Midwest in Lexington for donations, in addition to the GoFundMe.
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