SILVER SPRING, Md. — Two days since the Friendly Garden Apartments in Silver Spring exploded Thursday, fire officials say about half of the 200 residents displaced have been allowed to return to their apartment units once more.
Residents were displaced from six buildings located on Lyttonsville Road after the explosion. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services Chief Scott Goldstein told reporters Thursday three of the apartment buildings in the area were deemed unsafe and uninhabitable, but three other buildings were still safe but crews needed to work to restore the power.
With power restored to the three buildings, MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer tweeted Saturday that about half of the people who were displaced have returned home. Piringer tweeted that water, gas and electricity in the buildings has been restored or replaced.
About 100 people who occupy the three unsafe buildings will be displaced for a longer period of time, Piringer said in a video statement he tweeted Saturday. Those individuals are working with property managers, county officials and the Red Cross.
Piringer said crews remain on scene removing debris and clearing a pile of rubble. A task force from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Maryland State Fire Marshall was on scene Saturday investigating.
Piringer said there's "still a lot of work to do." Fire crews have helped residents retrieve necessities, such as medications, from buildings that remain unsafe.
Fourteen people in total were injured from the explosion, seven of whom have been released from the hospital. Three people, one of whom is a child, remain in critical condition.
Everyone who lives in the buildings has been accounted for.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. On Friday, Goldstein said investigators found a cut gas pipe in the basement. A maintenance worker was working in the building Thursday because of a plumbing problem.
Goldstein told reporters Friday it was possible the worker cut the gas pipe in the basement, but it was too early to say.
Crews wrapped up their cleanup and investigation around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Piringer tweeted. Another day of work will continue at the site of the explosion on Sunday and into the next week.