John Matthews
WMAL.com
SILVER SPRING, MD — (WMAL) Search crews will return to the Flower Branch apartments Friday morning to continue their search for victims in the Wednesday night fire and explosion that killed at least two people and sent more than 30 to the hospital. Police said an unknown number of residents remain unaccounted for.
The identities of the two known dead have not been released. State medical examiners will conduct autopsies later today to confirm the cause of death.
Police and fire investigators will also be on hand today to continue gathering evidence that will help them determine a cause for the blast, which was felt more than a mile away and sent debris flying several hundred feet. They will have to be careful moving around.
“It’s still not fully supported in there,” said Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief Russ Hammil at a Thursday evening press briefing. “The walls, and how they’re moving and how they’re displaced, it’s just not safe to stay inside there.”
The explosion and fire destroyed two apartment buildings and left about a hundred people homeless.
Montgomery County officials, along with the American Red Cross, have mounted a large recovery effort, arranging for those put out by the fire to be sheltered while arrangements are made for more permanent housing.
Cash donations are also being accepted by the Montgomery Housing Partnership at www.mhpartners.org, and food, toiletries and clothing can be domated at the CASA Welcome Center, a Wider Circle or the Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington.
As of Thursday afternoon, Montgomery Housing Partnership had already collected more than $10,000 in financial donations.
It could take a week or longer to arrange permanent housing for all of the victims.
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Montgomery County Fire Dept./Twitter)
