Fireball gas explosion throws debris at passerby in DC
A gas explosion destroyed a building and damaged two others in Washington, DC, on Thursday, 18 January.
Footage from the scene shows the moment of the explosion, which fired debris out of the building towards a passerby.
One person was injured by flying debris, sustaining only minor injuries.
DC Fire and Emergency Services had already evacuated the area due to “an active gas leak” and notified the gas company before the explosion occurred.
They said a secondary explosion occurred shortly after the first blast.
At least 16 children had been evacuated from a day care housed in a building that suffered damage in the blasts and were reunited with their families, with no injuries.
Footage from the scene shows the moment of the explosion, which fired debris out of the building towards a passerby.
One person was injured by flying debris, sustaining only minor injuries.
DC Fire and Emergency Services had already evacuated the area due to “an active gas leak” and notified the gas company before the explosion occurred.
They said a secondary explosion occurred shortly after the first blast.
At least 16 children had been evacuated from a day care housed in a building that suffered damage in the blasts and were reunited with their families, with no injuries.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Tonight, explosions right near a Southeast DC daycare.
00:03 Quick thinking likely preventing serious injuries despite an explosion that leveled the building.
00:08 Fox 5's David Kaplan is on Marion Barry Avenue tonight where the destruction is evident. David.
00:13 Well good evening to you. A lot of people feeling very fortunate that the only injury out of all of
00:21 this was minor injuries to one person. I want to walk you through this scene behind me and what we
00:26 know. You're looking at that pile of rubble right there. We are told that there was an accident,
00:32 that a truck may have hit a gas line in front, the gas meter in front of the business that is now
00:39 rubble now. Shortly after that, 911 was called, evacuation started. There's a daycare right next
00:47 to where that happened. It's on the second floor of that building you're looking at right now.
00:51 There was an explosion inside the daycare but only after these 16 small children and staff
00:59 were able to make it out of the building. The staff quick thinking, evacuating and then the
01:06 explosion happened inside the daycare. Then another explosion at the convenience store where the
01:13 original contact with the gas meter was made. Fox 5 just got our hands on some of video of the
01:19 explosion provided by DC Fire. Take a look at your screen right now. You can see the initial response
01:26 to the fire itself. Crews were on scene and then the yellow building, that's the convenience store,
01:33 there was an explosion there and again the area had been evacuated. Only minor injuries to one
01:41 person. I spoke with a restaurant owner who is nearby. He was outside down the block when the
01:47 explosion happened. Take a listen to him. Everything started off normal. Then there was a frenetic,
01:53 like people going door to door. The fire department going door to door telling people had to leave
01:57 and shortly after that, that's when you heard the boom, the fire explosion
02:01 and it kind of like caught everybody by surprise.
02:06 Over a hundred firefighters battled the flames for hours as it took a lot of time
02:14 to fully shut the gas off and eventually stop the fire. There is support work for families in this
02:22 area who may be impacted by the gas being shut off and they are working to clear out the rubble so
02:27 they can really assess the gas situation at the area here. Mayor Bowser was here. The department,
02:35 HSEMA was here as well to emergency management to help families out and make sure that everybody
02:42 is safe going forward. Washington Gas is also on the scene. So really a whole of government
02:48 response to this incident. Again, very, very, very thankful. Many people are that there were
02:56 evacuations and that there were no serious injuries out of all of this. Unbelievable stuff. Truly a
03:01 miracle. David, if you think about just how many people were in the area at the time. First
03:05 responders on the scene there also, right when that first explosion happened. Definitely and
03:11 that's something that we just saw in the video. I actually spoke with a fire lieutenant here.
03:16 He was part of the process of evacuating people in this block. He told me that as a result of
03:23 what they knew about this gas leak, they don't stand as part of their training directly in front
03:29 of the buildings that are in question where these gas leaks are because typically if there's a blast
03:36 it goes straight outward. If you look at the video that we just showed you, there were firefighters
03:41 off to the side. That blast did go out and again only minor injuries. So firefighters certainly
03:47 following their policies and procedures as it relates to what they're supposed to do when
03:51 they respond to this and certainly that spared people of injuries very likely as well.
03:55 All right, David Kaplan for us and clearly now we know why they evacuate so quickly whenever
04:01 there is a gas leak to prevent any further injury than what we saw. Thank you so much,
04:05 much of a Kaplan for us tonight in Southeast.