Gas lines being tested around site of Silver Spring apartment explosion
By Nick Iannelli | @NickWTOP August 15, 2016 12:24 pm
Emergency personnel view the scene of an apartment building fire in Silver Spring, Md., Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) SILVER SPRING, Md. — Utility crews went Monday morning to the scene of the Silver Spring explosion to test gas lines that are situated around the apartment complex where the deadly blast occurred last week.
Apartment explosion in Silver Spring An explosion and fire occurred at the Flower Branch Apartments, on Piney Branch Road in Silver Spring, Aug. 10, 2016. See photos. Employees with Washington Gas could be seen walking around the perimeter of the apartment site holding pieces of equipment.
“They wanted to do some pressure testing of some of the mains in the area,” said Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer. “They’ve already been through all the occupied apartments checking people’s appliances and that sort of thing.”
“We will have fire and rescue crews here monitoring the situation,” he said.
Investigators have not released an official cause of the fire and explosion last week at the Flower Branch apartments, although they suspect a natural gas leak was involved.
Residents complained about smelling gas days before the explosion, even prompting firefighters to respond July 25 to look into the odor.
So far, five bodies have been pulled from the rubble at the scene, and authorities say at least three more people are missing.
Search and recovery efforts are ongoing.
“All that debris and everything that’s removed has to be documented, so there is a lot of that work going on,” Piringer said.
About 100 people were displaced in the incident, officials said last week.