Fire Official: Dozens Hurt in Maryland Apartment Blaze

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) —
This Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016 shows the Piney Branch Road apartment fire with structural collapse in Silver Spring, Md. Fire officials say at least 20 to 25 people, including two firefighters, have been injured in a large fire at an apartment building in a Maryland suburb of Washington. According to the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, first responders were dispatched to the scene in Silver Spring just before midnight Wednesday. (Montgomery County Fire and Rescue via AP)
The Piney Branch Road apartment fire with structural collapse in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday. (Montgomery County Fire and Rescue via AP)

Dozens of people, including three firefighters, were injured after a large fire at an apartment complex in a Maryland suburb of Washington and searchers are looking for up to seven people who were still unaccounted for, authorities said Thursday.

Firefighters were called to the four-story apartment complex just before midnight Wednesday and found people on upper floors who needed help, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said at a briefing.

“People were dropping children and jumping out of other windows,” Goldstein said. “Everybody was getting out of the building as rapidly as possible.”

About 30 people and three firefighters were injured, with the injuries ranging from minor to serious, Goldstein said.

Goldstein said natural gas furnaces and stoves are in each of the units. It took at least an hour and 45 minutes to put out the blaze and Washington Gas helped safely turn off gas, he said. About 90 people were displaced and a shelter was opened at a community center nearby. Residents of nearby buildings that were not affected by the fire were allowed to return to their homes after several hours.

Some occupants and bystanders reported an explosion, spokesman Capt. Oscar Garcia said.

Hours after the fire, smoke still was rising from the four-level garden-style apartment building. Firefighters were sifting through collapsed debris and a ladder truck remained extended to the building’s upper levels.

Searchers will deploy resources such as robots as they search the more unstable areas, Garcia said.

A canine team searching the rubble of the apartment complex had a “hit” in one location, which could indicate someone is trapped there, Goldstein said.

County officials are investigating along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Garcia said.

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