A major gas leak in Centreville, Virginia continues to baffle investigators nearly three days after a devastating home explosion. Firefighters have evacuated at least 51 homes in a Centreville, Virginia, neighborhood as crews continue to investigate a gas leak and an apparent explosion that leveled a house late Sunday night.
An explosion at a Centreville, Virginia, home Sunday night triggered an active gas-leak investigation, injuring one person and forcing the evacuation of more than 50 homes. The explosion happened Sunday in the 14300 block of Quail Pond Court in Centreville at around 9:48 p.m. The elderly man inside the house that exploded and his neighbor both sustained non-life-threatening injuries. They were treated at a local hospital and have since been released. The force of the blast was so powerful that nearby residents compared it to a bomb.
Crews are still searching for the source of a gas leak more than 24 hours after a home explosion in Centreville, Virginia. Three gas lines run behind the house that exploded - the main transmission line for the county, another for Centreville and a third for Chantilly. Washington Gas crews are using heavy machinery to dig to confirm which line is behind the leak. The challenge is real: The National Transportation Safety Board has taken the lead in the investigation of the explosion, signaling the complexity of the situation.
The evacuation period is expected to last another 24 to 72 hours. Washington Gas is paying for people to stay in hotels, either by securing accommodations or reimbursing evacuees who already booked themselves into a hotel. For now, residents wait as crews methodically search through the neighborhood, digging down roughly 10 feet underground to pinpoint exactly where the deadly gas leak originated. It's a race against time and precision.