GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WJLA) — Twelve people were injured in a Wednesday morning explosion at a Gaithersburg, Maryland, apartment building, which sits across the street from an elementary school, fire officials said.
Officials said out of the injured, 10 people were hospitalized, two with critical injuries and eight with mild to moderate injuries. Two others refused treatment on the scene. Some of the injured include four children with minor injuries, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue officials said.
Additional first responders were dispatched to the scene. At 8:40 a.m, dispatchers received multiple calls about an explosion. 826 Quince Orchard Boulevard showed signs of an explosion, officials said.
There has been a gas-fed fire in the basement of the structure that has been addressed by the fire crews and work is undergoing with our utility partners in Washington Gas to shut off the natural gas to that building," said Goldstein.People who live in and around the apartment building on fire in Gaithersburg told WJLA they felt a huge explosion before the heavy smoke and flames.
One woman nearby said the explosion felt like an earthquake.
Another woman told WJLA her sister and her husband and their two small children were trapped inside their third-floor unit. They were able to get out with the husband jumping out a window. The woman said the family is now headed to the hospital for observation.
WJLA's Kevin Lewis shared a backyard surveillance video of the explosion.
Washington Gas employees were on the scene to shut off natural gas to the building. Officials said the apartment buildings are unsafe and unstable for rescue crews to enter.
The impact of the incident led to evacuations of nearby buildings 824, 828 and 830, officials said. Crews are working to identify the residents in each of these buildings to establish if they have been accounted for.
Officials said their search dogs did not signal, so they don't believe there is anyone deceased under the debris, but it will take them days to clear.
"This is going to be a multi-day event," said Goldstein. "We will be here for several days."
Washington Gas sent a statement to WJLA regarding the incident:
Washington Gas is aware of the incident this morning in Montgomery County, Maryland. Our personnel are responding to assist the fire department on the scene. As always, the safety of our customers and community is our top priority. We are supporting the active response to the incident and do not have further details to share at this time."ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmp5mknryvedaoqaWcX5rFsbjOrKCopl2nvKS30maemqGknbKzv8GuqaBlnZa%2FurjAp5tmmaCWv7W5xKerZpqlnrmltc2gZJ%2BhopqzqrPHrZyrq12XrrXAy6KloGWSoa67sYyqrKKmk5p6sL7CoZirnF2XvLa4xK%2BYq5xdl7%2Bww81mqq2ZpJ68r3nEpZymnZ6prrPFjKyaoaefoXqntdGsq2aqlai9sLrDnqmsZZ2WwLR5wpqqrpmcqcZuv8itrJqsmaS7