Utility contractor killed in Bel Air house explosion, officials say
Good morning, everyone. Uh My name is Jeffrey Sexton, Jeffreysexton. I am the Public Information Officer for the Harford County Fire and Ems Association. Um I’m here today to talk about the incident that occurred this morning. Uh I also have uh to my right, my cohorts, um they’ll give their information as well. Um So at approximately 642 this morning, units from Harford County uh fire and Ems were dispatched for an apparent house explosion. Units arrived on scene to find *** debris field, uh and then upgraded the assignment um and requested additional resources. Um At this time, we can confirm that there was one fatality, there was one injury uh that refused transport. Uh It is still an active scene. They are still actively conducting search and rescue operations alongside with Harford County special operations. Uh Well, with the Department of Emergency Services and multiple fire and Ems agencies throughout the county. At this time, we’re aware that there are approximately 60 personnel on scene um from the start of the incident, they have since uh downgraded that um to include just mostly the special operations team to continue the search. Uh There are approximately over 40 units or apparatus that were on scene. Um So, uh the main thing is is that this is still an active scene. It’s still an active investigation. Uh, the gentleman will be speaking, uh from the Maryland State fire marshal’s office as well as the Harper County Sheriff’s office to give additional information on the investigation point. Um, couple, uh, items is, is that with it still being an active scene, we are asking the general public to be respectful of *** couple of different things. Uh One, they are still working on notification of kin to the uh unfortunate uh fatality. They’re still working on that. In addition to that, we are also asking people to be mindful that it is still an active crime scene. They want to make sure that people are not flying personal drones uh in the area. They are still using utilizing uh drones and aircraft from special operations as well as law enforcement to gather evidence and information. So it is essentially what we’re requesting uh restricted airspace, no personal drone activity over the scene. Uh So at this time, I’m gonna turn it over to Master Deputy uh Oliver Alkire uh from the Maryland State Fire Marshals office, who is their public information officer. Thank you, Jeff. Um My name is Oliver Alk, I’m Master Deputy State Farm Marshal with the State Farm Marshals office, Oliver Oliv, er Al *** Lkire just to kind of touch base with what Mr Sexton was just talking about, uh, at around 642. Uh, the fire department was initially requested for *** gas leak outside. That was the initial request. However, as they were approaching the scene, they received multiple other phone calls stating that there was ***, now this gas leak has then turned into *** gas or excuse me, *** house explosion. Uh, units arrived on scene. Uh, they did locate, uh, the deceased victim. Uh They pronounced that victim deceased. Uh The office of State Fire Marshal is working jointly with the Harper County Sheriff’s Office that is standard operating procedure. Anytime *** fatality occurs within Harford County. We are also working with alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives or *** TF that is also standard operating procedure whenever *** house explosion occurs or any type of large loss. Uh We are still vigorously processing the scene at this time. Uh We are going to be working throughout the day. Uh We have got great cooper operation with Harford County uh roads Department along with the Harford County executive bringing in heavy equipment. Uh So we will be doing *** joint exam uh both with the special operations of Harford County, *** TF and ourselves along with Harper County Sheriff’s Office currently, uh it is still *** very active search and rescue scene. Uh I can confirm that the house was listed for sale. However, uh we do not know at this point if there still is anyone inside. So it’s still *** very active scene at this point. I also want to touch base or kind of follow up on. Uh, we, we certainly are restricting airspace. We don’t want any personal drones or whatnot, but we’re not treating this as *** crime scene. We just, we are, that’s how we’re treating this only because of just the, the, the vast debris area that’s around the scene. Uh We’re asking everybody respectfully, just kind of stay away and uh respect uh the area that we need to move in because it was just the large equipment um at this time. Um I’ll pass it over. Do you guys have any questions? Do you guys have any questions regarding the investigation? I can kind of help you out with. So he said he called it *** crime scene. It started off as ***, as *** gas uh call is it, does it look like this was intentional right now? We’re just still, we have as fire investigators and explosion investigators. We have to treat every scene like that. So any time that we arrive on that we’re still going through all that debris right now, we just don’t know. Uh what I can confirm is that there was *** odor of gas within the area. Um We can confirm that also BGE was aware of that uh odor within the area. Uh And there were, there were other, there were BG contracted workers uh on scene whenever the explosion occurred definitely know how many people might have been occupying *** house five currently. Right now. We just have it listed as one. Yeah, that’s right now. And the idea is being withheld pending notification. Yes, sir. That’s correct. Do you have an *** no? Right now? Uh We’re just gonna defer that over to our partners at the Harford County Sheriff’s office. Who does that part of the investigation? I’ll refer over to them if they want to release that information. Did you say B and D was working on the day? So BGE was actually called for another issue with regarding the electrical issue. I can confirm that uh they were there looking into that issue whenever the explosion occurred. He could. Yes, ma’am. Is the resident? Sure. And are you working with any architectural engineers within the area within like *** four mile radius of the condo building that we live in shook and our roof? Yeah. So we’re wondering, are there any in here that we, you imagine? No. Absolutely. Now that’s *** great question. I’m glad that you brought that up. Uh This is uh this is probably one of the largest uh explosion. I’ve been on the job for nearly 18 years. This is one of the largest explosions I’ve seen uh especially and even on Harford County. Uh so we will have to document each and every one of those houses that were affected by this explosion, uh including your address and I’ll probably follow up with you on getting that. Uh We do have multiple investigators coming from across the state to assist us including our partners at *** TF at this point. Do you know how many, like I know, obviously people are still counting and reporting damage. But do you guys have *** number so far of how many structures other than the one that exploded, that have been damaged by this? Yeah. So right next door to the left of that house, there was *** lady that was inside. Uh she initially was treated uh I believe she was not transported. So we know we at least have that person. Uh that was the house that sustained the most damage. Uh However, that’s just due to the blast radius, there’s going to be multiple structures including uh the structure she just spoke about. So we as investigators, we have to document each and every one of those. We have to try to figure out how far this blast radius was and it certainly all that data comes back to us to help us with our investigation. Was there already looking into the smell of gas already when the explosion happened was the DGE worker injured. Uh Yes, 11 of the BG *** workers was injured. Yes, Oliver, I know it early in the investigation. Any door ring cameras, any cameras in the area that could uh help you in your investigation. No, absolutely. And that’s one of the things our investigators will be, uh, going around looking through. You gotta remember this just happened less than two hours ago. I know that’s not an excuse, but we’re just trying to bring everybody, all of our investigators along of the sheriff’s office onto the scene. It’s going to be *** very tedious process. However, we will be going to each door to door to, not only to interview those people to see what data they have also to see, you know, what damage they have so we can document that. I know you said one person was found dead on the scene and sets 350. That’s correct. Yeah, there was two BGE workers. Uh and along with, we don’t know if we have another of the third victim, we do not know we have not been able to confirm that then keep up.
Utility contractor killed in Bel Air house explosion, officials say
Updated: 1:45 PM EDT Aug 11, 2024
A utility contractor is dead and two others were injured Sunday morning after a house exploded in Bel Air, officials said. Harford County Fire and EMS Association spokesman Jeffrey Sexton said they received a call for a gas leak at 6:42 a.m. in the 2300 block of Arthurs Woods Drive. Those calls were followed by reports of an explosion.Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire said there was an odor of gas reported, Baltimore Gas and Electric was aware of the gas odor and contractors were at the scene at the time of the explosion to investigate.Alkire said one of the utility contractors, a 35-year-old man, was killed in the explosion and another worker and a neighbor were injured.”This is one of the largest explosions I’ve seen, especially in Harford County,” Alkire said.BGE released a statement in the afternoon, saying:”BGE received a call from the Harford County Fire Department this morning to report a house fire in the 2300 block of Arthurs Woods Drive. BGE crews responded at the request of the fire department to assist with the response and investigation. The cause of the incident is under investigation. We can confirm that BGE contractors were on site responding to an electric service matter at the time of the incident. Please direct all questions to the Harford County Fire Department at this time.”Anyone who smelled gas in the area, or whose home was damaged by the blast, is asked to call the county’s hot line at 410-838-5800.Investigators are still trying to figure out if the homeowner was inside the home at the time of the explosion, as the home was for sale. The search-and-rescue operation continued through the morning as investigators sifted through debris. Shortly after 11:45 a.m., county emergency officials said the investigation continued as a recovery mode.Sexton said dozens of firefighters arrived at the scene to a debris field and they began to search for victims. An 11 News crew at the scene saw debris all over the street, and several neighbors told 11 News they heard the explosion. Video shared with 11 News from Sam Casale showed the house destroyed with a large debris field.Fire officials said there is no current threat to the public. The explosion damaged several neighboring homes and structures. Investigators are still surveying that damage.”The main thing is this is still an active scene, still an active investigation,” Sexton said. “With it still being an active scene, we are asking the general public to be respectful of a couple different things, one, they are still working on notification of kin to the unfortunate fatality. In addition to that, we are also asking people to be mindful that it is still an active crime scene. They want to make sure that people are not flying personal drones in the area.”Alkire said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is joining in the investigation. Alkire said the incident is not a crime scene but officials are treating it like a crime scene because of the vast debris field.No further information was immediately released.This report will be updated.Video below shows aftermath of Bel Air house explosion (Sam Casale)
A utility contractor is dead and two others were injured Sunday morning after a house exploded in Bel Air, officials said.
Harford County Fire and EMS Association spokesman Jeffrey Sexton said they received a call for a gas leak at 6:42 a.m. in the 2300 block of Arthurs Woods Drive. Those calls were followed by reports of an explosion.
Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire said there was an odor of gas reported, Baltimore Gas and Electric was aware of the gas odor and contractors were at the scene at the time of the explosion to investigate.
Alkire said one of the utility contractors, a 35-year-old man, was killed in the explosion and another worker and a neighbor were injured.
“This is one of the largest explosions I’ve seen, especially in Harford County,” Alkire said.
BGE released a statement in the afternoon, saying:
“BGE received a call from the Harford County Fire Department this morning to report a house fire in the 2300 block of Arthurs Woods Drive. BGE crews responded at the request of the fire department to assist with the response and investigation. The cause of the incident is under investigation. We can confirm that BGE contractors were on site responding to an electric service matter at the time of the incident. Please direct all questions to the Harford County Fire Department at this time.”
Anyone who smelled gas in the area, or whose home was damaged by the blast, is asked to call the county’s hot line at 410-838-5800.
Investigators are still trying to figure out if the homeowner was inside the home at the time of the explosion, as the home was for sale. The search-and-rescue operation continued through the morning as investigators sifted through debris. Shortly after 11:45 a.m., county emergency officials said the investigation continued as a recovery mode.
Sexton said dozens of firefighters arrived at the scene to a debris field and they began to search for victims. An 11 News crew at the scene saw debris all over the street, and several neighbors told 11 News they heard the explosion. Video shared with 11 News from Sam Casale showed the house destroyed with a large debris field.
Fire officials said there is no current threat to the public. The explosion damaged several neighboring homes and structures. Investigators are still surveying that damage.
“The main thing is this is still an active scene, still an active investigation,” Sexton said. “With it still being an active scene, we are asking the general public to be respectful of a couple different things, one, they are still working on notification of kin to the unfortunate fatality. In addition to that, we are also asking people to be mindful that it is still an active crime scene. They want to make sure that people are not flying personal drones in the area.”
Alkire said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is joining in the investigation. Alkire said the incident is not a crime scene but officials are treating it like a crime scene because of the vast debris field.
No further information was immediately released.
This report will be updated.
Video below shows aftermath of Bel Air house explosion (Sam Casale)
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