Two people have died after a house exploded in Harford County, Maryland, on Sunday.
According to authorities, a Baltimore Gas and Electric Company contractor and a 73-year-old homeowner were killed in the blast.
On Sunday morning, the fire department was called to the house to respond to a gas leak.
Before Fire officials arrived on the scene, the house exploded.
Here was the aftermath:
Bel Air, MD House Explosion – Aerial Videos/Photos of the scene of a reported apparent house explosion in the 2300 block of Arthur Woods Drive in #BelAirMD. #Explosion #Maryland #Abingdon #HouseExplosion pic.twitter.com/ueOPPhaVFt
— Tim Pruss, MyDrone.Pro (@MyDronePro) August 11, 2024
Everything from the scene of the House Explosion (Gas) this morning at 6:50am in #Abingdon/#BelAir #Maryland.
Video of the response, drone, and other photos below.
The house was "For Sale."
A contractor was working on the house. They tragically passed away. 🙏#News… https://t.co/TcWc7OFAWo pic.twitter.com/jOkVuUHTXf— DJ Legacy (SanityLostStudio) (@DJLegacy23) August 11, 2024
Here’s what CNN reported:
Two people have died after an apparent house explosion early Sunday in Harford County, Maryland, northeast of Baltimore, officials said in a post on X Sunday night.
A Baltimore Gas and Electric Company contractor and a 73-year-old homeowner were killed in the incident, a spokesperson with the county’s Volunteer Fire and EMS Association told CNN.
Officials initially reported one person dead and two injured on Sunday, before finding another person dead beneath the rubble.
The fire department was initially requested to respond to a gas leak around 6:42 a.m. ET outside the home on Arthurs Woods Drive in Bel Air, where authorities found a victim dead, Oliver Alkire of the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office said during a news conference Sunday.
“However, as they were approaching the scene, they received multiple other phone calls stating that … this gas leak has been turned into … a house explosion,” Alkire said. The blast displaced at least 12 families, authorities say.
There was an odor of gas in the area and the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company was aware, according to Alkire.
🏠 MARYLAND HOUSE EXPLOSION LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN 💥
A house explosion occurred on August 11, 2024, in the 2300 block of Arthur Woods Drive in Bel Air, Maryland, resulting in at least one fatality. Local fire departments, including volunteer firefighters from Abingdon Fire and… pic.twitter.com/goatm8nUxP
— Eorlby (@Eorlby) August 11, 2024
Per Fox 5 DC:
Two people were killed after a home in Harford County, Maryland exploded Sunday morning, officials say.
Harford County fire crews and EMS responded to the home in the 2300 block of Arthur Woods Drive in Bel Air around 7 a.m. after the home exploded.
ADVERTISEMENTCrews immediately began searching for victims and residents were asked to stay away from the area. Volunteer firefighters and Harford County special operations teams eventually found one victim who was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have since revealed that the victim was a 35-year-old BGE contractor who was at the home to check out a gas issue.
Oddly enough, it’s not the first (or even second or third time) recently that a house has suddenly exploded like this.
Remember this?
House Suddenly EXPLODES in Arlington, VA, As Police Approach With Search Warrant
File this under the strangest thing you will see all day!
I’m going to tell you everything we know so far….and then I’m going to tell you I expect there is MUCH more to this story that we don’t yet know (and perhaps never will).
Something VERY strange happening here.
Here’s the short story….a house in Arlington, VA suddenly exploded last night, and it was reported that the police were either currently serving a search warrant or were approaching the house in order to serve a search warrant.
We’re talking blockbuster movie-type stuff here.
Watch:
Wow. A house in Arlington, VA EXPLODES after police reportedly showed up with a search warrant pic.twitter.com/Jl0bILdss3
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 5, 2023
FULL VIDEO:
Wow. A house in Arlington, VA EXPLODES after police reportedly showed up with a search warrant pic.twitter.com/Jl0bILdss3
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 5, 2023
That’s an explosion that would make Michael Bay impressed!
“HOLY CRAP” would be an understatement:
A PHOTO FROM MOMENTS AGO JUST OUTSIDE WASHINTON D.C. pic.twitter.com/LWERNKd6wN
— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) December 5, 2023
Sees like it *was* a nice house:
Law enforcement was reportedly executing a search warrant down the street in Arlington, Virginia. Several shots were fired and then explosives were set off.
This was a nice, expensive home so whoever blew it up wanted to hide what was in there at all costs. This is significant. pic.twitter.com/PCP5uDy0a1
— Bruce Porter Jr. (@NetworksManager) December 5, 2023
Here are more details from ABC News:
A house in Arlington, Virginia, exploded Monday night, shortly after officers were executing a search warrant at the residence for reports of a person discharging several rounds with a flare gun, officials said during a press conference.
Police responded to a residence on the 800 block of North Burlington Street at approximately 4:45 p.m. Monday afternoon with reports of possible shots fired, said Ashley Savage, public information officer with Arlington County Police Department.
ADVERTISEMENT“The suspect inside the residence discharged several rounds. The house subsequently exploded,” Savage said.
Police officers sustained minor injuries and were treated on scene. Before the explosion, Savage said that a barricade situation took place after attempts to make contact with the suspect were unsuccessful.
“During the early parts of it, after we had obtained a search warrant, we were attempting to make contact with the individual. Our SWAT team was on scene at that point, we would determine that the incident would be a barricade because the suspect had not exited the residence,” she said. “We were attempting to make contact with the individual when shots were discharged inside the residence.”
Here’s an interview with the man who recorded the video:
WATCH🚨: Here’s the interview with the man who shot the video you have seen of that massive explosion out of Arlington, VA. pic.twitter.com/7lk2itNVql
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) December 5, 2023
And from NBC News:
The suspect inside an Arlington, Virginia, home that went up in flames Monday night as police tried to execute a search warrant has been identified as resident James Yoo, 56, and is presumed to be dead, Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn said.
“Human remains have been located at the scene. The office of the Chief Medical Examiner will work to positively identify the individual and cause and manner of death,” Penn told reporters at a Tuesday news conference.
Authorities said during the news conference they are investigating what the cause and origin of the explosion was.
There is no ongoing threat to the nearby community, the police chief said, adding this will be a thorough and extensive probe and authorities will also look into “concerning social media posts” allegedly made by the suspect.
Yoo listed his address in multiple LinkedIn posts, which are filled with rambling and at times incoherent conspiracy theories against government officials, law enforcement, media outlets and, in one post from Friday, his neighbors who he accused of being spies and collecting his information for unnamed handlers.
The FBI is assisting in the investigation into the explosion and the suspect, said David Sundberg, assistant director in charge of the agency’s Washington field office.
Yoo had previously communicated with the FBI through phone calls, online tips and letters “over a number of years,” Sundberg said.
“I would characterize these communications as primarily complaints about alleged frauds he believed were perpetrated against him,” he added. The information the suspect shared and his communications with the agency did not lead the FBI to open any investigations, Sundberg said.
The explosion prompted the evacuation of several nearby houses, officials said.
The blast destroyed the home as law enforcement were trying to make contact with the suspect inside. Authorities believe the man had been firing a flare gun from his home earlier in the day, Arlington County Police Department spokesperson Ashley Savage said.
Do you trust this “witness”?
Home Explodes in Arlington Virginia
• Look at where the Explosion Originates— from the SIDE of the house.
• The Witness sounds like a FED pic.twitter.com/kQsoIWjsoA— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December 5, 2023
When I first saw this story it immediately made me think of this from a few months ago:
WATCH: House Suddenly EXPLODES In Plum, PA
This is something you don’t see every day….
Gas leak?
Meth?
Bomb?
DEW?
No reports yet on exactly what caused it, but wow….
Take a look:
WATCH: House exploded in Plum, Pennsylvania, Ring camera footage shows
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) August 13, 2023
Reports say 4 people are dead and multiple properties have been damaged:
House Explodes, Four People Die (Caught on Ring Doorbell) PLUM, PA – Four people are dead in an explosion in Plum Borough that destroyed three homes and damaged at least a dozen more. This Ring doorbell video shows the moment one of the houses exploded. One more person is still… pic.twitter.com/qW6kZpkBrt
— DOORBELL NEWS (@DoorbellNews) August 13, 2023
Total destruction:
Total devastation is the only way to describe the situation in Plum along Rustic Ridge Drive #SKY4 follow @toriyorgeytv and @WTAE for the latest. The size of the blast radius is breathtaking 5 homes destroyed no fewer than a dozen damaged. Debris hundreds of yards away. pic.twitter.com/opkHNxOiKb
— SamHall (@SamDHallJr) August 12, 2023
The AP reports the following:
Four people were dead and a fifth was unaccounted for following a house explosion in western Pennsylvania that destroyed three structures and damaged at least a dozen others Saturday morning, authorities said.
Allegheny County officials said three people were taken to hospitals after the blast shortly before 10:30 a.m. in the borough of Plum, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.
Three people were transported to area hospitals, including one who was listed in critical condition and two who were treated and released. More than 20 firefighters were evaluated, many for heat exhaustion, authorities said.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office was expected to provide additional information about the deceased victims.
Emergency officials suspended operations Saturday night due to weather and concern for the safety of investigators. Crews were expected to resume working at the site on Sunday morning.
Emergency responders reported people trapped under debris after one house apparently exploded and two others were engulfed in flames, county spokesperson Amie Downs said.
Similar explosions have happened recently elsewhere.
In Dunbar:
Firefighters are battling a fire after a home exploded and collapsed in Dunbar, injuring two people. Dispatchers said nearby homes are being evacuated due to a gas leak. (South Charleston Fire Department Photo)https://t.co/uJuCZ1ng86
— Eyewitness News (@wchs8fox11) August 7, 2023
And Plano:
https://twitter.com/MzJJBlues/status/1690731959125671936
But the strangest thing is that this does not appear to be the only explosion in Plum:
There is a serious issue with house explosions within Plum Borough. It’s overdue for a deep investigation into what’s happening here https://t.co/650ldYouxZ
— Ashlie Hardway (@AshlieHardway) August 12, 2023
Six in one township?
What?
This is absolute INSANITY! SIX house explosions??? @TribLIVE please rip into this so no other Plum families have to suffer 💜💛💔
Article: https://t.co/8RFhJhelhm pic.twitter.com/fK0JWvAMPK
— Ashlie Hardway (@AshlieHardway) August 13, 2023
From TribLive:
There have been at least two previous house explosions in Plum since 2008, both in the Holiday Park neighborhood.
The most recent was April 22, 2022, at 5021 Hialeah Drive. A couple and their three sons who lived there survived.
As of September, the cause of the explosion had not been released.
Matt Brown, chief of the Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services, said in an email Saturday that the investigation has been lengthy because of forensic testing of natural gas lines and appliances and follow-up interviews. He said all of that requires extensive planning and coordination.
A March 2008 house explosion on Mardi Gras Drive was eerily similar in its destruction to Saturday’s incident on Rustic Ridge Drive.
In that incident, when the house at 171 Mardi Gras exploded, two others were destroyed and 11 were damaged.
A grandfather, Richard Leith, 64, of Trafford, was killed and his granddaughter, Gianna, then 4, suffered a broken leg.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that a 2-inch natural gas distribution pipeline had been hit by a backhoe when a sewer line was replaced five years prior in 2003, stripping the pipeline of its protective coating and making it susceptible to corrosion and failure.
Questions to be asked on #plumgasexplosion from a former journalist:
1. Excavating companies are the ones who run individual homeowner lines to their home – not the gas co. Was there 1 common denominator excavator who ran lines to these homes and didn’t follow proper protocol? ->— Ashlie Hardway (@AshlieHardway) August 13, 2023
Very strange…
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!