SILVER SPRING, Md. — Steven Inman immediately jumped into action as soon as a building at Friendly Garden Apartments exploded on Thursday morning.
The Army veteran responded to the crumbled site after he heard the loud boom and felt his house shake from across the complex. His first encounter was with a woman stuck in a second-floor unit. She was holding her baby.
"I yelled at her to jump out," Inman explained to WUSA9. "I'm 6'1 and have long arms. Luckily, I can stretch far enough so all she could do was stretch out and I was able to grab the infant's legs."
Inman said he and other strangers went upstairs to bust the door open and let the mother out as the building was burning. His heroic gesture continued when he joined other people to bang on everyone's doors to alert them of the fire caused by the explosion.
He helped one of the ladies on the bottom floor by pulling her out of the window.
"I broke that window out, picked her up and tossed her to my father who was behind me and that's when I ran around because I wasn't going to stay still," Inman added. "It was who is next, who is next, who is next?"
Not everyone was able to get out on their own. Fire officials said firefighters assisted at least a couple of residents, including 83-year-old Blanche Hall, who was rescued by the ladder and bucket.
The explosion injured 14 people including two children, one of whom is in serious condition. Ages of the victims were not immediately known.
Everyone at the apartment is accounted for, according to Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein. Inman was relieved to learn of the update since he felt guilty for not being able to help an elderly man in a wheelchair.
"I couldn't breathe and I couldn't see anything, so I was like 'sorry, I have to go' because I barely got out myself," he said.
In a press conference Friday, Goldstein said human remains dogs alerted crews to an area of the demolished building throughout the day. Officials believe someone could be under the rubble in that area. Goldstein said crews will continue to remove debris by hand until reaching dirt in order to rescue or rule out that anyone is underneath the remains of the building.
Goldstein confirmed that crews found a cut gas pipe in the basement of the building that exploded. Investigators continue to search for the source of ignition.