– Authorities have released 911 calls from anxious residents about a fire that killed at least two people, injured more than 30 others and left several unaccounted for at an apartment building in Silver Spring.
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The third body was found Friday afternoon, a day after two other bodies were pulled from the debris of the building in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Police have not identified the three bodies which have been taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for autopsy, and possible identification.
The explosion late Wednesday night sent debris hundreds of feet, and people more than a mile away reported the blast was strong enough to shake their homes. Residents told NBC Washington they smelled gas in recent weeks, and some said they didn’t feel their complaints were taken seriously.
Pete Piringer with Montgomery County Fire and Rescue said there were electrical hazards as well, with the blaze affecting power lines in the area.
“It’s a collapse hazard, which is a unsafe situation for the personnel”, acting county fire chief David Steckel said.
“When we arrived on the scene, we found people doing rescues using ladders from construction and paint trucks”, Goldstein said.
So far, authorities have found two unidentified victims in the rubble of the blast and subsequent fire. “Throughout the day, we have located many individuals that were originally thought to be missing”, Hamill told reporters Friday. “We do not have a number at this time”.
Said another caller, “The whole apartment is on fire”.
“Tragically, that doesn’t seem that that’s a possibility at this time”, Hamill said at a news conference Thursday night.
Fire officials on Thursday had initially said five to seven people were unaccounted for. Although the fire was brought under control around 1:30 a.m., there was significant structural damage to the apartment building.
Investigators are looking into the cause of the deadly blast and fire.
Federal agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) continued to help local fire investigators, Montgomery County Police said on Twitter on Saturday.
About 150 firefighters worked on containing the fire that erupted after an explosion at the four-story Flower Branch apartment complex.
There are natural gas furnaces and quick-fire stove tops in each apartment of the four-level buildings on Piney Branch Road, officials said.
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Search and recovery efforts were continuing over the weekend for several residents still missing.
