Firefighters and utility crews say they’re looking into an active gas leak after a house exploded Sunday night, injuring at least one person and displacing dozens of families in Centreville, Virginia.
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1 injured in Va. house explosion; crews investigate active gas leak
Firefighters and utility crews say they’re looking into an active gas leak after a house exploded Sunday night, injuring at least two people and displacing dozens of families in Centreville, Virginia.
The National Transportation Safety Board has taken the lead in the investigation of the explosion, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue officials said Monday afternoon in an update. Pipeline safety is under the purview of NTSB.
Residents reported smelling gas and a house on fire in the 14300 block of Quail Pond Court, off Buggy Whip Drive, on Sunday night.
Crews arrived to find the house engulfed in flames around 9:45 p.m., and a neighboring house with heat damage, Assistant Chief of Operations for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Eric Craven said Monday afternoon during a news conference.
A man inside the house was able to escape without the help of firefighters and sustained injuries that were minor and not considered life-threatening, officials said. Craven said another neighbor also had injuries that were not life-threatening and has since been released.
The fire department said that everyone connected to the home had been accounted for.
Crews with Washington Gas walked through the Fairfax County neighborhood Monday, sticking long poles with sensors into the ground to check for gas, WTOP’s Neal Augenstein reported from the scene.
Based on those measurements, four houses were at risk of exploding and 51 houses were deemed unsafe to be inside as of Monday afternoon, according to Mitch Clark, a spokesperson for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.
Craven said there are four gas lines in the vicinity and crews are “narrowing them down one by one.”
“There’s three going in one direction and one crossing them. So there’s three in the easement, and one that runs across owned by different entities,” Craven said.
Clark said three gas lines run behind the house that exploded — the main transmission line for the county, another for Centreville and a third for Chantilly. Washington Gas crews are using heavy machinery to dig to confirm which line is behind the leak.
“Every hour, Washington gas takes readings on the exterior of the homes, manhole covers, as well as many test holes they’ve dug in and around the exterior of the property,” Craven said.
Washington Gas and Williams Pipeline Corporation operate the gas lines in the neighborhood of the house explosion.
Craven said that the readings are “well below the lower explosive limit,” but crews will continue to monitor and take readings Monday night through Tuesday morning.
Smell of gas at the time of the explosion
Craven said the cause of the explosion is under investigation, but there were multiple reports of “an odor of gas in the area.” He said officials are conducting soil testing and at-grade readings to find any escaping natural gas.
A neighbor who spoke with reporters said he arrived shortly after the explosion.
“The second story of the house was still standing when we arrived, and we watched it come down,” the neighbor said.
He also described seeing unusual colors in the fire: “You could see different colors in the flames — green, blue — things like that.”
Augenstein reported that fire crews remained on scene Monday morning putting out hot spots.
A spokesperson with Washington Gas told WTOP that evacuated residents were offered shelter at a warming center, but it closed overnight after no one arrived.
Officials are asking people to avoid the area. Neighborhood residents who need to get necessary items from affected homes can report to 5101 Sequoia Farms Drive in Centreville. There will be staff there who can escort residents back to their homes to retrieve items.
Below is a map of the area where the home exploded:
CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE. (Courtesy Google Maps)
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein and Kyle Cooper, who both reported from Fairfax County, and Abigail Constantino, contributed to this report.
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