More than 45 homes remain evacuated in Centreville, Virginia, as crews tear up roads in search of a gas leak.
Firefighters quickly evacuated dozens of homes late Sunday night after an apparent explosion leveled a home on Quail Pond Court. Investigators said they haven’t determined yet whether the gas leak caused the explosion.
“You know, it’s been tough. You know, the kids are spooked. We’re shaken a little bit but, you know, just happy that no loss of life right now,” resident Greg Malanga told News4. His family’s home was among those evacuated.
His wife, Jenna Malanga, said the explosion and evacuation was “extremely” frightening.
“I have a 4-week-old and two toddlers so it’s a lot,” she said. “But like Greg said, no loss of life. We’re very lucky, we’re fortunate to live with amazing people and everyone’s looking out for each other.”
Neighbors said they smelled natural gas throughout the weekend before the explosion that injured two people.
A man who lived at the home that exploded managed to escape with only minor injuries after jumping off of his back deck, a neighbor told News4. His neighbor also suffered minor injuries.
About 100 people met Tuesday morning for a town hall meeting where officials with the fire department and gas companies gave them an update.
“It’s an active investigation so there’s just not a lot of forthcoming information at this point,” resident Natasha Oerter said.
“We want to know what happened. We want to know how long this is, you know, are we safe; is our home safe?” she said.
There are multiple gas lines running through the neighborhood, some owned by Washington Gas some, owned by the Williams Pipeline Corporation.
Washington Gas is in the process of digging at multiple sites in an effort to find the leak, Fairfax County Fire Assistant Chief of Operations Eric Craven said. Six gas lines in the area range anywhere from 2 inches in diameter to 42 inches in diameter, he said, and it’s still “completely unknown” which line is leaking gas.
The timeline will depend on which pipe has the leak: If it’s a smaller pipe, people might be back in their homes in a day or two. But if the leak is in a larger pipe, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said not only would the evacuation order be extended, it would also expand.
“Worst case scenario, that evacuation radius would extend to a quarter mile of where they believe the leak is,” Craven said.
That could mean another 100 homes would need to be evacuated, but at this point, officials don’t know because they haven’t found the leak.
“I am still concerned because I personally have called Washington Gas twice within the last year … so I still don’t feel comfortable,” said Terri Haynes, who attended the town hall.
More than 80 homes in the area are still without natural gas service as Washington Gas and the Williams Pipeline Corporation, try to track down the exact location of the leak, Craven said.
Craven said the fire department is continuing to check natural gas levels in and around each home in the evacuation zone every hour. He said the readings are trending downward.
Crews are working to find and control the source of a gas leak suspected of causing a massive home explosion in Centreville, Virginia. News4’s Aimee Cho reports.
On Feb. 1, several miles away from Centreville, a gas-fed fire burned a home in the Franconia area on Gladys May Lane, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said. The fire department confirmed that Washington Gas was on the scene, but the company has not responded to News4’s request for a statement regarding that fire and any possible connection to what happened in Centreville.
Fairfax County fire officials spoke at a news conference late Tuesday morning, but no representatives from Washington Gas or Williams Pipeline Corporation were there to answer questions from reporters.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which has assumed authority over the investigation, was also not at the news conference. Craven said the NTSB is expected to give a statement about its investigation Tuesday night.
A house explosion in Fairfax County forced the evacuation of 51 homes as source of a gas leak is investigated. Northern Virginia Bureau reporter Drew Wilder reports.
Multiple 911 calls poured in after residents heard the blast
More than 20 residents called 911 just before 10 p.m. Sunday to report they either heard a loud explosion, saw a fire or smelled gas in the 14300 block of Quail Pond Court, Craven said.
One person who was inside the home that exploded managed to escape with only minor injuries, fire officials said.
“He was on his back deck and they told him to just jump, and I think the younger neighbor caught him and helped him get out of the yard safely,” neighbor Natasha Oerter told News4.
The man went to a hospital, and was later released, according to fire officials.
Another person in a neighboring home also suffered a minor injury. They were also released from a hospital, Craven said.
When firefighters arrived, they found the home engulfed in flames. The fire had spread to a couple of other neighboring houses, which they were able to extinguish.
Craven said more than 75 firefighters worked to put out the fire.
News4 images and drone video taken after the fire shows the home reduced to piles of charred rubble. Parts of it were still smoldering many hours later.
After evacuating the homes, fire and rescue workers were seen putting red caution tape across the front doors.
Some of the evacuated residents went to a nearby community center, while others got hotel rooms or made arrangements to stay with family members or friends.
Craven said on Tuesday that 340 people have signed up for the county’s text alert updates on the incident.