Apartment City

Federal investigators said they found a disconnected vent pipe in the basement room where natural gas built up before a lethal explosion last year at a Silver Spring apartment complex . They have not determined when the pipe was disconnected, why or who did it, but the disconnect would have bypassed a safety feature meant to vent gas from the basement room of the building to the exterior, investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in a preliminary report on the Aug. 10, 2016, explosion that killed seven people, injured more than 30 and left more than 100 homeless. “The person who disconnected the vent pipe, as well as his/her intentions in doing so, are as of yet to be determined,” investigators wrote in a preliminary report that was made public Tuesday . ATF investigators, who are working with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation of the incident, said that the cause of the explosion and fire that followed are undete...

WASHINGTON — A vent pipe was found disconnected in the meter room where federal investigators believe the natural gas explosion that killed seven people last summer originated. Although the cause of the Aug. 1, 2016 Silver Spring explosion remains undetermined , a Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives report states that the origin of the blast was a basement room that housed a water heater and gas meters in one of the Flower Branch Apartments buildings . Inside that meter room, investigators found a three- part union vent pipe that had been disconnected before the blast. Investigators said the purpose of the pipe was to release gas outside the building in the event a gas regulator failed . But because the pipe was disconnected, if the regulator had failed, gas would have leaked into the meter room and could have been ignited by the flame on the hot water heater . In the report, investigators say they are certain that the disaster was caused by an explosion followed b...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The preliminary report has been released for an explosion and fire that killed seven and injured dozens last year at a Silver Spring apartment . Some questions now have answers, but a big question still remains. One year ago, an explosion and fire blasted apart the Flower Branch Apartments in Silver Spring. Firefighters managed to rescue some trapped by the flames, and rushed three dozen injured to area hospitals, but seven residents were killed when a large section of the building gave way beneath their feet: “Ah, it just collapsed man. There was no getting out of that,” one witness said. Last November, survivors filed lawsuits to, as one lawyer put it,”finally give us a straight answer to this tragedy.” ATF and NTSB investigators are still seeking a definitive cause, but a preliminary report makes some findings. Investigators say no gasoline was spread inside the building, and there was no drug lab that could have caused a blast. Natural gas odor was reported s...

SILVER SPRING — Federal investigators found a disconnected vent pipe in an apartment building that exploded last year, killing seven people and injuring dozens. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says the cause of the August 2016 explosion and fire in a D.C. suburb in Maryland remains undetermined . The Washington Post says the ATF released ... Already a paid subscriber but not registered for online access yet? For instructions on how to get premium web access , click here. Forgot your password? Share this:

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Just over year after the apartment explosion in Silver Spring, the National Transportation and Safety Board opened its public docket. The cause of the explosion remains undetermined , but the report does reveal new information from the investigation. According to the report, a vent pipe was disconnected in the basement where gas built up prior to the explosion, thus dismantling a safety feature in the meter room. When and why this happened is still unknown. Pending tests will further explore this. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said the explosion happened first, then the fire, not vice versa.