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STERLING, Va. — When firefighters arrived at a house in a Washington, D.C., suburb to analyze a report a few gasoline odor Friday evening, they found a 500-gallon underground propane tank with a leak on the facet of the residence.
Shortly after they arrived, the home exploded and burst into flames, with a number of mayday calls coming from the firefighters trapped inside. Crews rushed in to attempt to rescue them from the particles that coated them, however one firefighter was killed and 10 others had been injured, Loudoun County Hearth and Rescue officers stated Saturday.
4 of the firefighters harm within the blast remained in hospitals Saturday morning, in accordance Loudoun Hearth and Rescue System Chief Keith Johnson.
Johnson stated all 4 are anticipated to outlive. A complete of 11 first responders had been despatched to hospitals with “various levels of accidents” Friday evening, together with the one who died.
He was recognized as 45-year-old Trevor Brown, a volunteer with Sterling Volunteer Hearth Firm. Brown was married with three kids and had been with the county firefighting providers since 2016, Johnson stated.
“We misplaced a member of the family,” Johnson stated Saturday. “We misplaced one among our personal. Fairly frankly we’re fortunate we solely have one fatality. Our of us had been in that home when it exploded. They did what they needed to do.”
Johnson stated investigators haven’t decided the reason for the explosion, however “we are able to assume it was propane-related.” He stated the 500-gallon tank, situated outdoors the home, had leaked the gas into the home.
Two individuals inside the home had been escorted out earlier than the explosion and suffered solely minor accidents from the blast. They had been handled at native hospitals, Johnson stated.
Firefighters who responded to analyze the gasoline odor went inside the home to verify for occupants and try and mitigate any leaks, he stated. A hazardous supplies staff had additionally been referred to as to the scene.
The explosion occurred round 8:25 p.m., about 37 minutes after firefighters arrived to analyze the gasoline odor, Johnson stated. After the blast, there have been a number of mayday requires firefighters trapped within the dwelling, he stated. All firefighters had been accounted for and receiving care by 9:15 p.m., Johnson stated.
“It was considerably chaotic as we tried to determine what number of firefighters had been trapped below the particles,” he stated.
James Williams, assistant chief of operations, described injury to the house in Sterling as “whole devastation.”
“There’s a particles discipline properly into the road and into the neighboring properties,” he stated Friday evening.
Sterling is situated about 22 miles (35 kilometers) northwest of Washington, D.C.
A neighbor, John Padgett, instructed ABC7 Information that he had smelled gasoline whereas strolling his canine earlier.
The blast shook his dwelling, he stated.
“It seemed like an inferno,” and insulation from the burning dwelling fell like ash, he added. “It was horrific; it seemed like one thing out of a warfare zone.”
Brown’s physique was taken to the Workplace of the Chief Medical Examiner to find out the trigger and method of demise.
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