At least one firefighter is dead and 12 other people are injured after a gas leak check at a Virginia residence ended in an explosion. According to a Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System release, fire crews reported to a home in Sterling around 7:30pm local time on Friday after a 911 call came in about the smell of gas, the AP reports. The release notes that when firefighters arrived, they found a 500-pound propane tank with a leak buried underground on the property and called for a team trained to deal with hazardous materials, per CNN. About 30 minutes after first responders had converged on the scene, however, a "catastrophic explosion" took place, per the release.
"It was very smoky," one neighbor tells NBC Washington. "There was debris falling from the sky." "The house is pretty much leveled," one firefighter can be heard saying over the dispatch. Asst. Fire Chief James Williams described the scene as "total devastation," noting that "a debris field well into the street and into the neighborhood." Of those injured, 10 were firefighters and two were civilians, the fire department noted. The injuries were said to range from severe to less serious; the two civilians in the home were said to have received minor injuries, a rep for the fire department tells CNN. The identity of the deceased firefighter hasn't been released. Williams, meanwhile, says an investigation into the incident is ongoing. (More Virginia stories.)
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