SILVER SPRING, Md. — In an instant, families were jolted awake and sent running for their lives.
On August 10, 2016, a gas explosion and the fire that followed, ripped apart the Flower Branch Apartment complex in Silver Spring, Md.
The National Transportation Safety Board or NTSB confirmed seven people died, including two kids. Sixty-five people were transported. Three firefighters were injured.
More than two years has passed, but the NTSB still hasn’t determined the cause of this explosion.
A spokesperson for the agency said over the phone, most investigations take around a year. Terry Williams also said they do want to make sure the group conducts a thorough investigation.
The NTSB was supposed to hold a "probable cause" meeting on March 12th. That got pushed to April 23rd.
When WUSA9 asked Cary Joshi, “should the public be outraged?” He responded with the following.
“I think what they should be outraged about is how long it’s taken. I mean this is really justice deferred. Our clients have been waiting a long time."
Joshi is one of the lawyers representing the nearly 100 Flower Branch residents who sued the apartment complex’s owners and Washington Gas in 2016. She is with Bailey and Glasser LLP.
Joshi said attorneys are unable to move forward in their lawsuit until the NTSB is finished with their investigation.
“The most important,of that evidence is the actual, physical apparatus of the gas room where the explosion too place. We haven’t had access to that yet. We haven’t been able to test it independently,” said Joshi.
A previous ATF report said there was a natural gas leak in the complex’s basement meter room that led to the explosion. The ATF left the NTSB to determine where exactly that leak came from.
The lead on the NTSB investigation was out for the day and unable to answer questions on the investigation's delay.
The next probably cause meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. on April 23, 2019.
Joshi said she believes the government shutdown may have had something to do with why the meeting was moved to next month.
Flower Branch’s parent company, Kay Management, did not respond to an email request for comment.