No deaths confirmed: Silver Spring apartment explosion ruled 'accidental'
SILVER SPRING, Md. - On Monday, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein confirmed the apartment explosion that displaced over 100 people in Silver Spring last Thursday has been ruled "accidental."
"We know an inch-in-a-half diameter gas pipe was found cut in the basement, the utility area, in 2405. That is consistent with the interviews we have," said Goldstein.
The fire chief confirmed a Friendly Garden Apartments' maintenance worker was working to unclog a drain inside apartment 101 at 2405 Lyttonsville Rd. -- the building that exploded last week.
The maintenance worker, according to the fire chief, was using a snake to unclog the drain. We’re also told he went to the "terrace" area directly underneath the unit and cut what he believed to be a drain waist pipe, as part of removing that clog. This was later determined to actually be a gas pipe.
Chief Goldstein said the worker capped the pipe, but sometime after going back upstairs to the unit a flash fire erupted, injuring the tenant. Chief Goldstein said the worker and tenant were in a back stairwell trying to exit the building when a portion of the building then exploded.
The Chief said fire investigators will not be able to determine the source of the ignition.
It was not clear at the time of the 3 p.m. news conference whether this maintenance worker was in fact a licensed plumber.
A Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) Water Spokesperson, representing the county’s water utility, confirmed for FOX 5 that per code, cutting less than 10% of piping in the system of a building does not require a license to cut the line. However, if the pipe is concealed (behind a wall), then that is when a permit and licensed plumber is required.
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Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said he viewed the pictures of the utility line involved and told reporters it was not a "black gas pipe" – and that the line was "indistinguishable" from the other pipes.
Many residents expressed frustration after learning, among other county inspections, fire safety inspections done last month were only completed at two of Friendly Garden’s six apartment buildings (the building of the explosion had its Fire Code Compliance permit expire in 2019).
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Some residents questioned whether those inspections could have helped prevent this very serious accident. However, a spokesperson within the county’s permitting office confirmed for FOX 5 that the labeling of pipes is not a requirement of fire code, building code or mechanical code from DPS.
"It had no markings on it so one of the things that we think we can do, and we’re looking at the regulatory requirement, is to require that all buildings that have exposed piping have to label those pipes," said Elrich, telling reporters there was no labeling on the pipes involved in the older structure. Chief Goldstein previously said the complex was built in 1971.
Asked whether the worker would’ve known when he cut the pipe and whether gas was pouring out, Chief Goldstein answered, "yes and no."
Goldstein explained that the regulator pressure depends on the service community/geography and can sometimes be 20 psi or higher depending on gas distribution. "But your regulator drops it down, most often, to a quarter pound of gas. So, it’s the volume and constant flow. So, you’re not going to hear a loud ‘hissing’ and you’re not going to have a rush of gas coming out of even an inch-in-a-half gas pipe," said Chief Goldstein, "So, we aren’t aware of his knowledge or awareness that it was a gas pipe that he cut."
‘That doesn’t seem like a mistake that someone who knows what they’re doing would do. You know? And especially, even after knowing the violations in the building and the expired permits and everything, it just doesn’t feel safe," said displaced resident, Tito Garcia.
Garcia, his wife Sylvia Bunyasi and their son are now squeezing-in with relatives in Takoma Park until they can be placed in a new apartment. Garcia lived with his family in 2411 Lyttonsville Rd. and got 15 minutes to enter their apartment on Saturday to grab any needed items they could – this included finally getting the chance to retrieve the family cat.
Garcia feels someone should be held accountable.
"It’s been overwhelming. It’s been exhausting. It’s still sinking in. Everything is still sinking-in. Trying to figure out where we are. Where we’re going," said Garcia’s wife, Sylvia. She is concerned the family won’t get to return to their community. A county official said on Monday, affordable housing is harder to come by in this Silver Spring neighborhood.
Miraculously, the fire chief ruled out any deaths at the explosion site in the Monday afternoon news conference.
One woman, a tenant injured in the flash fire, is still in critical condition according to an official with close knowledge of the investigation. Goldstein said one other person is still being treated for a separate health matter. Twelve others, including a child severely injured, have since been released.
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director Dr. Raymond Crowel said through the kindness of strangers, over $460,000 was raised for the impacted families. DHHS and the Red Cross are now working with working to relocate around 41 families, including over 124 adults and 36 children.
The Red Cross stated in a Monday news release: "Alongside partners, trained Red Cross workers will provide additional recovery resources as well as emotional support with the opening of a Disaster Assistance Center on Tuesday March 8th from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; and Wednesday March 9th from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.. The location on both days will be the Gwendolyn Coffield Community Center, 2450 Lyttonsville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910."
An online company website identifies "ResidentialOne" as the property management company for Friendly Garden apartments. The company has not responded to any of our requests for comment.
A Washington Gas spokesperson said the company's "standard practice includes conducting routine leak surveys on Washington Gas-owned equipment." Washington Gas owns the equipment up to the outlet of the meter. The utility company says it will continue to support the investigation.