5 to 7 People Unaccounted for After Explosion at Maryland Apartment Building

[nitpicker]

Source: NBC Washington


5 to 7 People Unaccounted for After Explosion at Maryland Apartment Building, Fire Officials Say


Five to seven people are unaccounted for after an apparent explosion at an apartment building in Silver Spring, Maryland, fire officials say. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer said more than 160 fire and rescue workers responded to the 3-alarm fire in the 8600 block of Piney Branch Road early Thursday morning. Five to seven people are missing, according to fire officials.

Thirty occupants of the building were transported to the hospital with injuries, according to Montgomery County Fire Capt. Oscar Garcia. Three firefighters have non-life threatening injuries, Garcia said. Ninety people are displaced from 28 apartments.

Piringer said additional EMS resources are being dispatched. Some of the injured are burned, he said.

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. Firefighters made "numerous rescues" in heavy fire conditions, Piringer said.

(snip)

Read more: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Firefighters-Respond-to-Possible-Explosion-in-Montgomery-County-389820882.html

[nitpicker]

1. Additional buildings affected

http://wjla.com/news/local/injuries-people-trapped-after-explosion-fire-at-apartment-in-montgomery-county

(snip)
Twenty-eight units in two buildings were immediately impacted.

Four additional buildings in the 8600 block are in danger of further collapse, according to fire officials

One hundred firefighters and 90 units responded to the fire, according to Chief Goldstein.
(snip)

[padfun]

2. So, is it 5 or 7?

If you don't know how many people are unaccounted for, then maybe it's millions. This is so stupid. You will know or not if someone is unaccounted for. It's not a guessing game.

[Travis_0004]

3. Its probably 5. Or 7. Maybe even 6

Odds of it being millions is 0%.

It makes more sense to give a realistic guess than say an unknown mber of people are missing.

[Tempest]

5. No, you won't know

At least not until much later when you find out how many residents there were in the building, whether they were unaccounted for (like being gone at the time) and if there were guests in the building.

What's stupid is saying maybe it was millions.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Instant gratification much?

[IronLionZion]

4. Was it a natural gas leak?

How the hell does this happen?

I've been in that neighborhood. Lots of immigrants and lower income folks on flower ave and piney branch road. This is not the gentrified downtown area.

more pictures

http://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2016/08/major-fire-engulfs-silver-spring-apartment-building/slide/4/

[snooper2]

8. meth?

[haele]

9. Don't think so. Building had natural gas stovetops and water heaters.

The explosion damage from the pictures was too large for a meth lab in someone's bathroom or kitchen - I used to live near Klantee - err, Santee and saw lots of pictures of garage and apartment bathroom meth lab explosions back in the 1990's. Lots of fire, but the actual explosion damage was typically limited to a 10 - 15 ft range at the location of the cooker.

The explosion damage in the pictures look more like a whole floor or two worth of stovetops went within a couple seconds. Especially if doors were blown across the street, as was reported.

(I'm not a fire-fighter or explosives expert, I've just had a bit more than basic training in Shipboard Damage Control, and dealing with explosions - especially fuel and ordinance - was part of the training.)

Haele

[Tempest]

10. Not likely

Someone would have noticed the smell as soon as they started cooking.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Huge fire and explosion destroys Md. apartment complex; more than 30 injured

Huge fire and explosion destroys Md. apartment complex; more than 30 injured

By Clarence Williams and Justin Jouvenal

August 11 at 8:10 AM 

A massive explosion and fire leveled a Silver Spring apartment complex with a blast that could be felt a mile away, injuring more than 30 people, including three firefighters, and forcing nearly 100 people from two buildings with some residents tossing their children from windows.

Authorities reported no fatalities, but crews had shifted into search mode Thursday morning, seeking to account for five to seven residents of the two adjacent buildings at the Flower Branch Apartments on Piney Branch Road. Authorities said there were 14 units in each building.

“People were dropping children and jumping out of other windows,” Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said of the fire. “Everybody was getting out of the building as rapidly as possible.”
....

Keith Alexander contributed to this report.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. That now says 2 dead (nt)

[ananda]

12. Meth lab? Gas leak?

??

[Warpy]

13. Gas leak or bomb lab, I'm afraid

Meth explosions will blow a garage door off its moorings but typically leaves the building intact until the chemical fire burns it down.

This is massive explosive damage. People would have smelled enough gas to do this kind of damage, so no wonder the BATF has been called in to investigate.

Even BHO explosions are minor compared to this one.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. From the updated OP link - gas smelled for weeks

"I've been smelling gas for weeks. I called 911, they came and told us it smelled like incense," Boya said. That's pretty sad. It's like they didn't take us seriously."

Joy West said she also could smell gas in the area prior to the explosion.

"When I walk in this area, you smell gas near the corner as you approached the gas station. But it's very strong on Flower, about a block from here," West said. "I just felt, and I told the guys at the store, 'You guys be careful cause one day something is going to blow up around here.'"

The Montgomery County fire department responded to a call July 25 reporting the smell of gas, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett said.

[Warpy]

15. Gas company went out and said no

but that could have been one lazy SOB who left his gear in his truck and couldn't be bothered to go get it.

But yeah, the subsequent fire looks more like it's gas fed than anything else.

[nitpicker]

16. WUSA9 identifies 5 missing people in Silver Spring explosion

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/silver-spring/wusa9-identifies-5-missing-people-in-silver-spring-explosion/295402189

WUSA9 identifies 5 missing people in Silver Spring explosion
(snip)

((description of the missing))

Rescuers have announced the recovery of two bodies. But the individuals have not been identified.
(snip)