Columbia, MD – Six townhouses are considered uninhabitable after a townhouse in Columbia exploded amid a suspected gas leak Wednesday.
Gas and electric for the block is shut off after the explosion triggered a three-alarm fire that spread to neighboring homes in the 12000 block of Sleepy Horse Lane and injured two people, fire officials said.
Lew Kaiser, who witnessed Wednesday night’s explosion, returned Thursday morning to collect some items from his car.
“It was horrifying because it was a huge explosion, so it rocked the entire neighborhood,” he said. “There were doors [across the street] that opened. It was something that was almost not describable because I’ve never been in a situation like that.”
Those injured were a resident and a Baltimore Gas & Electric worker who had been called to fix the leak in the Clary’s Chase neighborhood, Howard County Fire Chief John Butler said.
The home that exploded was unoccupied at the time, he said. A neighborhood resident suffered respiratory injuries and was transported to the hospital.
The BGE worker’s injuries were unknown, but he was taken to the Johns Hopkins Bayview burn center, fire officials said.
On Thursday, BGE spokesman Aaron Koos said the worker had been released from the hospital.
Butler said late Wednesday that all residents were accounted for and rescuers are no longer searching.
A BGE truck was on site, and a spokesperson for the American Red Cross of the Greater Chesapeake Region said the organization is providing shelter for three residents displaced by the explosion and fire.
Kaiser said the owner of the house was assisted by the Red Cross and a local chaplain, and is now staying with family.
A fencing company is slated to confine the area from the community to keep neighbors and visitors safe.
Other homes in the neighborhood are safe for residents, according to county fire and rescue spokeswoman Maria Hogg. But five neighboring units to the home that exploded sustained significant damage. Three of them had fire damage.
Two townhomes to the left, and three to the right of the townhome that exploded were deemed uninhabitable, Hogg said Thursday morning as crews continued to investigate.
Koos, of BGE, said the company was “supporting the Howard County fire department in their investigation of the cause” of the fire. BGE has 58,651 customers in Howard County.
He urged residents who smell natural gas to call the utility right away.