1 firefighter killed and 9 injured in Virginia home explosion

A firefighter was killed Friday evening after a home in Virginia exploded, injuring 11 other people and scattering parts of the house across the neighborhood, officials said.

Firefighters arrived at the home in Sterling, Virginia, a Washington suburb, around 7:40 p.m., said James Williams, assistant chief of operations for Loudoun County Fire and Rescue. That was around the same time that the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company posted on social media that they had sent fire trucks to the house to investigate a gas leak.

Shortly afterwards, the house with firefighters inside exploded, trapping people and leaving the area in “total devastation”, Mr Williams said.

Aerial footage of the scene from local news media smoke and debris covered the area with scant signs of the demolished house.

“There is a debris field well into the street and into neighboring houses,” Mr Williams said, adding that the area remained an active scene from about 11pm. Firefighters were still working at the site, where the fire continued to smolder, and all firefighters had been accounted for, he said.

While fire officials investigated the cause of the explosion, Washington Gas, the local utility, said in a statement that it was “verifying the integrity of our system in the area.”

Nine firefighters were transported to local hospitals with injuries of varying severity, Mr. Williams said, as well as two civilians. He did not identify the deceased firefighter pending notification of his family.

“It's a huge physical and emotional toll on everyone involved in the fire service,” he said.