Those seven people are thought to be all of the victims of the Silver Spring, Maryland fire, which investigators now believe to have been fed by natural gas after an explosion in the base of the building, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County Police Department said. Some residents reported smelling natural gas before the explosion; officials also had been called to the building July 25 by residents who reported smelling gas.
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“The identification process has been extremely challenging for reasons related to the blast fire and collapse of the buildings on Arliss Street”, said Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Russ Hamill. Ravi Chhatre, a senior pipeline investigator, said it will likely be a year before the board issues a full report on the exact cause of the explosion.
“After conducting over 100 interviews of witnesses, reviewing countless hours of surveillance video, collecting and analyzing multiple pieces of evidence, reconstructing the gas meter lines and digging by hand through four stories of charred debris, we are prepared to say that this tragedy was the result of a natural-gas explosion”, said Daniel Board, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lead investigator.
Investigators also said they were able to use DNA to positively identify three of the seven victims who were killed: Augusto Jimenez, Maria Auxiliadorai Castellon-Martinez, and Saul Paniagua.
Adrianne Boi said he called rescuers because he was frustrated that managers for building owner Kay Apartment Management were ignoring complaints of gas odors.
“We have information that the management company was repeatedly told that there was a gas leak, and that they should look into it…that there was a smell of gas and that they should do something about it”.
At a meeting with officials Tuesday in the community center, residents received reassurances that Washington Gas has checked out the surrounding buildings. “If they do, they should certainly contact us”, said Earl Stoddard of Montgomery County Emergency Services.
“From the site of the explosion itself, we are trying to find out what ignited, caused or started that explosion”, Board said. “Now they’ve returned to the apartments, but they’re afraid to turn the gas stove on”.
Investigators also announced the National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB), a federal agency that investigates safety problems on highways, railroads and pipelines, will now lead the investigation.
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Chhatre said the NTSB aims to have their investigation completed within a year.
