The two bodies found in the ruins of the building in Silver Spring have not yet been identified, Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Russ Hamill announced at a news conference Thursday morning.
Advertisement
Two buildings were affected by the fire and explosion, and the units which were affected have displaced at least 90 persons. “Everybody was getting out of the building as rapidly as possible”.
They cleared the scene at 10:32 p.m., Firestine said, and the county is still trying to determine who responded, what tests if any were conducted and why the scene was cleared.
Chief Goldstein says that the explosion in the complex only caused one building to collapse, but four other buildings in the Maryland complex are in danger of collapsing. “Fuego”, she said, using the Spanish word for fire.
On Thursday morning, she stood outside a temporary shelter at a recreation centre with all she had left: a wool jacket, her nightgown, pink flip-flops and her large white purse.
According to Battalion Chief Dee Howard Richards, around 24 injured residents have been transported to various area hospitals.
Officials declared the event a three-alarm fire, which sent dozens of firefighters, trucks and ambulances to the scene.
The injuries the occupants of the apartment complex suffered range from minor to quite serious and include burns and even fractures sustained by persons who had to jump from the windows of the building as fire engulfed it.
Police and fire crews were preparing Thursday evening to suspend operations for the night at the apartment complex, where one of the buildings had partially collapsed.
Among those injured were three firefighters, treated and released after a large-scale rescue effort in which some people dropped children off balconies in the garden-style apartment to safety below. When she escaped her first-floor apartment, the fire was “right in my face”.
“It was a big boom, the building shook and everybody ran out”, she said. Several people are still missing, officials said. “I tried to knock on the door and windows”, he said.
Paul Carden, spokesman for the American Red Cross, says approximately 70 of the almost 100 displaced residents have reported to the emergency shelter that has been set up at the Long Branch Community Center on Piney Branch Rd.
Regional disaster director Paul Carden said Thursday those who were displaced are primarily Spanish speakers. “I’ve never seen a fire like this in my life”.
Advertisement
“The number of households impacted is significant”, Carden said. Hamill did not specify how many people were believed to be missing.
