BEL AIR, Maryland – At least one person died and two were injured after a Maryland home exploded Sunday amid reports of a possible gas leak, fire officials said.
Neighbors described feeling and hearing the early morning explosion that damaged several neighboring homes in Bel Air, a city about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Baltimore.
Firefighters were called to the scene around 6:40 a.m. for reports of a gas leak and an external gas odor, said Oliver Alkire, deputy chief of the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Alkire said as firefighters approached, they began receiving calls that the house had exploded. First responders pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
Alkire said a house neighboring the explosion was severely damaged and a woman in that house was treated for her injuries at the scene. At least one utility worker at the scene was also injured. Two utility workers were in the area to resolve a reported electrical problem, but authorities did not immediately say whether it was related to the explosion.
Investigators are working to determine how many homes were damaged and how far away the blast radius was. Firefighters continued to search the wreckage for other possible victims of the explosion. Authorities said there is no ongoing threat to the public.
“I’ve been on the job for almost 18 years and this is one of the biggest explosions I’ve ever seen,” Alkire said, noting that investigators will document damage to nearby homes.
A photo posted by county officials showed several firefighters standing around the rubble of the home, with another damaged home in the background. Charred pieces of wood were piled up on the property, and insulation and wood chips littered the street. Small pieces of debris hung from nearby trees. Later in the morning, emergency crews were seen using heavy equipment to sift through the rubble.
Alkire said the house that exploded was for sale, but it was unclear whether it was still occupied.
More than 60 first responders from multiple agencies arrived at the scene. The state fire marshal, sheriff and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms assisted in the investigation, as is standard procedure.
Lisa Czawlytko, who lives in a nearby condominium, said the explosion woke her and her three children and knocked a pet bird to the ground.
She said the roof structure of four condominiums gave way and sent the aluminum roof cladding down to the ground. She attended a press conference at a nearby library to ask authorities if it was safe to be in the building.
She said she felt the force of the explosion.
“The whole building shook like a big earthquake,” she said in an interview.
This scared her 8-year-old daughter, Myca.
“I thought a bomb had fallen,” she said.
The explosion woke Greg Clifford from a sound sleep inside his home, about a block away. He first thought that a tree had fallen on his deck or that lightning had caused the noise.
“It shook everything,” Clifford said. “It was really loud.”
He also noticed some damage to his home.
“My bedroom window is set back from the frame of the house,” Clifford said. “I mean, I can look directly at my deck. My basement door – the glass – didn’t break, but it exploded and my frame broke.”
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