More than a week after an apartment fire devastated 60 families in Silver Spring, authorities have announced a probable cause and identified three of seven victims.
The fire was the result of a natural gas explosion, a representative from the Baltimore branch of the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said at a press conference this morning. It was sparked in a meter room on the bottom level of one of two buildings involved in the fire. “At this point and time, there is no indication that any criminal activity occurred,” the ATF spokesperson said.
The fire erupted on August 10 at the Flower Branch Apartments on Piney Branch Road. “One of the fire stations about a mile away felt the explosion just before midnight, prior to getting the 911 dispatch to the structure,” Montgomery County Fire Department Chief Scott Goldstein said at a press conference following the incident.
The joint investigation was conducted by nearly 300 employees from the ATF, Montgomery County Police Department, and the Department of Fire and Rescue Service. The investigation is now being handed to the National Transportation Safety Board, a federal group that reports directly to Congress. Part of this organization’s role will be investigating what exactly ignited the explosion.
Police received reports of eight missing people, seven of them were found dead in the debris. Authorities have identified 62-year-old Augusto Jimenez, 53-year-old Maria Auxiliadorai Castellon-Martinez, and 65-year-old Saul Paniagua. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore has yet to identify the remaining victims. Members of the community held a vigil for them earlier this week.
Another person who was on the list, Oscar Armando Ochoa, was found alive. He was identified as a missing person based on the Flower Branch Apartments’ leasing records, but investigators learned that he no longer lives there.
Meanwhile, the fire left more 30 people injured and about 100 displaced. The Red Cross has been working closely with the apartment’s former residents to provide resources since the incident. And Kay Apartment Communities, which manages the complex, has also created a website to track the investigation. It calls the incident “tragic and heartbreaking for all the affected families.”
An NTSB spokesperson said that it may take up to one year to close the investigation.
