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 (Aug. 15, 2017) — The National Transportation Safety Board opened the public docket Monday as part of its ongoing investigation of the Aug. 10, 2016, apartment building explosion fueled by natural gas in Silver Spring, Maryland. The explosion and fire in a four- story apartment building , part of the Flower Branch apartment complex in Silver Spring, Maryland, resulted in seven fatalities and 65 civilians were transported to local medical facilities . Also, 3 firefighters sustained minor injuries . An attached, adjacent apartment building sustained explosion damage and was immediately involved in the fire. (This front view of the accident scene shows two explosion-damaged buildings on Arliss Street, Silver Spring, Maryland. Building 8701 is located at the right center and building 8703 is located at the left of the photograph. (Photo provided by Public Service Commission of Maryland) The docket includes factual reports that cover various aspects of the investigation, ...