Former propane company employee charged in deadly Sterling home explosion

STERLING, Va. - A former petroleum company employee has been charged with manslaughter eight months after a Loudoun County home explosion left a volunteer firefighter dead.    

On Monday, a grand jury indicted 67-year-old Roger Bentley. He's now charged with involuntary manslaughter and other charges connected with improper handling and record-keeping of petroleum.

The explosion happened back on Feb. 16. Loudoun County firefighters were called to the home on Silver Ridge Drive around 7:40 p.m. for reports about the smell of propane. 

Less than an hour after the smell was reported, the house was blasted apart. While the Loudoun County Fire Marshal still has not determined what ignited the propane, the investigation revealed what caused the initial leak. 

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FOX 5 obtained the search warrants served on Bentley, which laid out details about what happened leading up to the explosion. 

According to the warrants, the homeowner contacted Southern States to have her propane tank serviced as she prepared to sell her home. The documents say the tank had not been filled for some time because it was specifically used to heat a pool that was never used.

Southern States knew the tank was a problem well before the explosion — back in 2021 they were aware of the issue but because the homeowner didn’t use the pool, they didn’t take any action. 

After being contacted by the homeowner this year, Southern States had planned to come out in late February to address the issues but for unknown reasons, an employee showed up at the home six hours before the blast on Feb. 16 and filled up the tank.

The employee immediately smelled propane and called three of his supervisors, telling them they had to dig up the tank or get rid of the remaining propane.

That’s when Bentley responded to the home. It was around 4:20 p.m. when he arrived and suggested that they let the petroleum seep out and "be on their merry way."

Four hours later, the house exploded, killing firefighter Trevor Brown, injuring 11 first responders and causing $2.5 million in property damage. 

According to these search warrants, Bentley called the homeowner at 8:18 p.m., seven minutes before the explosion, then texted the homeowner twice after the explosion asking for her to call him.

Southern States says they’ve been cooperating and did an internal review of safety protocols and have made personnel changes in the region, redoubling their efforts towards safety. They say they can’t comment on specific personnel matters, but Loudoun County officials referred to Bentley as a former employee.

FOX 5 is still working to get the charging documents.