Two people were seriously injured when an improperly installed dryer caused a Rockville home to explode early Wednesday morning. An adult man and woman found in the rubble were taken to a local hospital’s burn unit after the blast at their home on the 11200 block of Ashley Drive, said Scott Graham, assistant chief for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue. The blast startled area residents, who awoke at 3 a.m. to find that a piece of their neighborhood near Garrett Park had disappeared.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said James Bradley, 73, who lives across the street. “I looked out the window and the house was gone.”
An improperly installed natural gas dryer caused the explosion, Graham said.
He said the man was in serious condition and the woman had suffered life-threatening injuries.
The couple had just moved into the home within the past week, neighbor Margaret Dikel said. Before that, the rental property had been vacant for some time while the landlord made renovations, she said.
Bradley said he initially thought the crash was a train derailing. But when he peered outside, he saw the house across the street was “physically gone.”
Firefighters came through the neighborhood Wednesday morning to check for gas leaks in other homes, Bradley said.
Dikel called the blast “unbelievable.”
The houses in the area are made of brick, she said, and “it takes a pretty big boom to get something like this to shake.”
The blast caused about $750,000 in damage, Graham said. The single-family, ranch-style home was a total loss. Adjacent homes sustained moderate damage and debris was found in a 50-yard radius around the house.
Rescue crews were at the home for more than an hour and investigators remained on the scene for eight hours, Graham said.
The Rockville incident came just two days after a Prince William County home exploded because of what authorities believe was a gas leak.
That home, located on the 19000 block of Wayne Drive in Triangle, was also undergoing renovations for new residents, according to Prince William County Fire and Rescue officials.
The explosion happened at about 8:15 a.m. Monday and the home sustained major damage. One person was inside at the time and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
