25 hurt after an apartment explosion in Maryland.
Updated 16 mins ago
MARYLAND -- Fire officials say at least 20 to 25 people, including two firefighters, have been injured in a large fire at an apartment building in a Maryland suburb of Washington.
According to the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, first responders were dispatched to the scene in Silver Spring just before midnight Wednesday.
The department said early Thursday morning that the fire was believed to be under control.
Capt. Oscar Garcia tells The Associated Press the two firefighters injured are believed to have injuries that are not life-threatening. The extent of the others' injuries wasn't immediately known.
Garcia says not everyone is yet accounted for. The fire involved at least two or three buildings.
The department tweeted photos that showed a building at least partially collapsed and rubble strewn on the street in front of it.
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5 to 7 People Unaccounted for After Explosion at Maryland Apartment Building, Fire Officials Say
Fire officials have declared the fire a "mass casualty incident"
As many as seven people are unaccounted for after an explosion leveled an apartment building in Silver Spring, Maryland, fire officials say.
Firefighters at a station about a mile away felt the explosion at the Flower Branch Apartments just before midnight Wednesday, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said.
More than 160 fire and rescue workers were called to the Piney Branch Road complex to help battle the 3-alarm fire. As of Thursday morning, five to seven people were unaccounted for, according to Goldstein. The missing include men, women and children.
One woman at the scene told News4's Megan McGrath she was searching for her uncle after her calls to his cellphone went unanswered.
""He lived in the building that collapsed. We're here waiting and nobody tells us, nobody say anything to us," she said.
Thirty occupants of the building were transported to the hospital with severe to minor injuries, Goldstein said during a news conference Thursday morning. Three firefighters have non-life threatening injuries.
Montgomery County Fire Capt. Oscar Garcia said when firefighters arrived to the four-story building, they received reports of people trapped inside. The fire involved at least two or three buildings.
Fire Roars Through Silver Spring Apartment BuildingFirefighters made "numerous rescues" in heavy fire conditions, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer said.
It's not clear whether the missing people are trapped inside the building or were away at the time of the fire.
Ninety people are displaced from 28 apartments, Goldstein said.
The fire fed by natural gas tore through the large apartment complex just before midnight, causing significant structural damage and part of a building to collapse.
The force of the explosion blew debris into a parking lot across the street from the complex. The debris field indicates an explosion, Piringer said.
One man told News4's Derrick Ward he's been smelling gas for some time now.
"I've been smelling gas for weeks. I called 911, they came and told us it smelled like incense -- like we don't know what incense smells like.That's pretty sad. It's like they didn't take us seriously," the man said.
The official cause of the fire has not been determined.
At about 2 a.m., Garcia said the fire is controlled and there may be hot spots that are still burning underneath the collapse.
A gas company at the scene has controlled the gas, Piringer said.
Piringer said power lines nearby were also affected.
Residents should avoid the interseciton of Piney Branch and Arliss Street, officials said.