STERLING, Va. — A former employee of a propane supplier has been charged in the death of a volunteer firefighter who died during a blaze. house explosion in Virginia in February, officials said Tuesday.
Roger Bentley was indicted Monday on charges of involuntary manslaughter and unlawful release of hazardous materials, Loudoun County Fire and Rescue said in a statement.
Bentley was also charged with failing to maintain required records of an unauthorized discharge of hazardous materials, and with unlawful failure to control or restrict an unauthorized discharge of hazardous materials.
Online court records did not show whether Bentley had an attorney speaking on his behalf on the charges Tuesday.
The house explosion in Sterling led to the death of volunteer firefighter Trevor Brown, significant injuries to 11 first responders and $2.5 million in damages, Loudoun County officials said. Brown was married with three children and had worked for the county fire department since 2016, officials said.
Firefighters arrived at the home in suburban Washington, D.C. to investigate a report of a gas smell, officials said. They discovered an underground 500-gallon propane tank with a leak on the side of the home, officials said.
Shortly after they arrived, the house exploded and burst into flames, prompting multiple emergency calls from the firefighters trapped inside. Crews rushed in to try to rescue them from the rubble covering them.
Two people in the house were escorted out before the explosion and suffered minor injuries from the explosion.
Investigators determined the explosion was caused by the leak, the fire department statement said. Unrestricted propane migrated into and around the structure and was ignited by something that has not yet been identified, the statement said.
Bentley is a former employee of Southern States Cooperative, Inc.-Leesburg-Fairfax Petroleum Service. In a statement to WTOP TVThe company says it is fully cooperating with the investigation into the explosion.
“Based on our own internal investigation into the incident and a comprehensive review of our safety protocols and training, particularly as they relate to the handling of propane, in accordance with the industry’s Energy Compliance Manual, we have made what we believe are appropriate personnel changes in the region and continue with a renewed commitment to ensuring our procedures and training are rigorous and thorough,” the company statement said.
