In this photo provided by the Joppa Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department, debris is seen on a street following an apparent house explosion in Harford County, Maryland. (Image: AP Photo)
A house next to the explosion was also badly damaged and a woman was treated for her injuries.
At least one person died and two were injured when a Maryland home exploded Sunday, sparking reports of a possible gas leak, fire officials said.
Firefighters were called to the scene of a fire in Bel Air, northeast of Baltimore, around 6:40 a.m. because a gas leak was reported and there was a smell of gas outside, said Oliver Alkire, a deputy fire marshal with the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Alkire said as firefighters got closer, they received calls that the house had exploded. First responders pronounced one victim dead at the scene.
He said a home next to the explosion was badly damaged and a woman in that home was being treated at the scene for her injuries. At least one utility worker at the scene was also injured. Two utility workers were in the area working on a reported electrical problem, but authorities did not immediately say if that was related to the explosion.
Investigators are trying to determine how many homes were damaged and how far the blast radius was. Firefighters continued to search the rubble for other possible victims of the explosion about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore. Authorities said there was no ongoing danger to the public.
The explosion leveled the house. A photo released by county authorities shows several firefighters at the rubble of a house, with another destroyed house visible in the background. Charred pieces of wood lay on the property, insulation material and wood splinters lay on the street.
Alkire said the exploded house was for sale, but it was not clear whether it was still inhabited.
More than 60 emergency personnel from various agencies arrived on the scene. The state fire marshal, sheriff and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms assisted with the investigation, as is customary.
Lisa Czawlytko, who lives in a nearby apartment complex, said the explosion woke her and her three children and knocked a pet bird to the ground.
She said the roof structure of four apartment blocks had collapsed and aluminum cladding had fallen from the roof to the ground. She attended a news conference at a nearby library to ask officials if it was safe to be in the building.
She said she felt the force of the explosion.
“The whole building shook like a major earthquake,” she said in an interview.
It frightened her daughter, 8-year-old Myca.
“I thought a bomb had fallen,” she said.
(This article has not been edited by News18 staff and is from the feed of a syndicated news agency – Associated Press.)
