FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a refrigerator likely touched off an explosion of natural gas that ripped through a house in Fort Dodge. The four residents had just been told to leave the house when the blast occurred Feb. 14. Two were unharmed. Two were taken to a hospital. The Messenger reports that officials think the gas had migrated into the house through the soil and that the refrigerator compressor turning on provided the spark of ignition. Investigators have yet to confirm whether the leak was caused when a city public works crew stuck a gas line while repairing a broken water main in front of the house.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A former Dubuque police officer who stole from his employer has been sent to prison. The Telegraph Herald reports that 32-year-old Kyle Cross was given five years for the theft and 10 years for a sexual abuse conviction because the theft conviction violated terms of his probation. The sentences will be served at the same time.

Cross said January when he pleaded guilty that he wasn’t responsible for all the nearly $7,200 in cash and merchandise stolen from Boost Mobile, a Dubuque cellphone store. He said the loss was between $1,300 and $1,500. Authorities say an employee that Cross fired contacted the store owner about thefts that he and Cross committed when they pocketed payments for phone repairs and fraudulently reported paying people to hold business signs on a sidewalk.