Published Saturday, February 17, 2024

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA (USA) — At approximately 1938 hours EST (1638 hours PST) on Friday night, the 9-1-1 call center began receiving emergency calls reporting a possible gas leak (gas odor smell) outside of a home located in the 300 block of Silver Ridge Drive in Sterling.

Resources with the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company were dispatched to the incident scene.

Upon arrival, those with the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company reported they had located a 500-gallon underground propane tank leaking outside of a residence.

The call was upgraded and more resources were requested to respond, including the Loudon County HAZMAT Response team with additional units from Sterling, South Riding, and Command Staff (Chief and Safety Officers).

While operating on the scene and for a short time on the incident timer, an explosion occurred causing multiple maydays from firefighters inside of the structure.

A RIT team and second alarm were escated through Command which brought in second-level resources from Fairfax County and the Metro WA Aiport Authority.

The RIT team and others worked tirelessly to locate and extricate the firefighters entrapped inside of the home. Debris and other things buried them but they were rescued from the home. One firefighter, however, was killed in the line of duty. He has been identified as Firefighter Trevor Brown, 45, and an eight-year veteran of the Fire Department.

As a result of the explosion, there were 13 patients (including the fatality), which are said to be 11 first responders and two civilians with various degrees of injuries.

(L) Photo Credit: LCFR

Four firefighters still remain hospitalized in local area hospitals.

Please keep your prayers and thoughts for FF Brown’s family and those who were injured, as well as those who have been impacted by the blast, death, and injuries and those who suffered from the loss of their properties/livelihoods.

The Fire Marshal’s Office is currently investigating the cause and how this tank could have been placed there.

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