One firefighter was killed and several others were injured after they found a leaking 500-gallon underground propane tank at a Sterling home Friday night.
The Loudoun County Emergency Communications Center got a call about an odor of gas outside a residence in the 300 block of Silver Ridge Drive in Sterling. “A short time later, units on scene reported a catastrophic explosion concurrent with multiple maydays from firefighters inside the residence,” said Loudoun County Fire Rescue in a Facebook post. Additional units from Fairfax County and the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority responded to a second alarm.
The firefighter who died at the scene was later identified as Trevor Brown, 45, of Sterling Volunteer Fire Company. He had been with the company since 2016.
In addition to Brown, Loudoun County Fire Rescue said 11 first responders and two civilians suffered varying degrees of injuries from the explosion. Four remained hospitalized on Saturday.
On Saturday, fire rescue officials asked that members of the community hold off on setting up Go Fund Me or other donation sites while they talked with the families about their needs.
Featured image courtesy Loudoun County Fire and Rescue
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