Shortly after they arrived, the house exploded and burst into flames, with multiple mayday calls coming from the firefighters trapped inside. Crews rushed in to try to rescue them from the debris that covered them, but one firefighter was killed and 10 others were injured, Loudoun County Fire and Rescue officials said Saturday. It was not immediately clear if the rounds fired were from the flare gun or a different weapon, but police later said the rounds were fired "from what is believed to be a firearm" and Penn on Tuesday confirmed the suspect fired multiple gunshots. A suspect is presumed dead after a house exploded as police in Arlington, Virginia, were attempting to execute a search warrant, authorities said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon. “Our thoughts are with the police officers that were injured in that explosion,” Olivia Dalton, the White House principal deputy press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. James Yoo, 56, was identified by Arlington County Police Chief Andy Penn at a news conference as the person whose actions brought police to the Arlington home after he fired a “flare-type gun” from inside the house into the neighborhood more than 30 times.
Federal Investigators Pinpoint What Caused String Of Gas Explosions In Mass.
Carla Rodriguez of South Arlington said she could hear the explosion more than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away and came to the scene, but police kept onlookers blocks away. Assistant Fire Chief Jason Jenkins said authorities turned off gas service to the home and evacuated nearby residents — including people who lived in the other part of the duplex — about 90 minutes before the explosion. An investigation into the cause of the explosion is ongoing, fire officials said. Police asked that anyone with photos or video of the area share them with investigators.
WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore
The police said that three officers had suffered “minor injuries,” but no one was transported to the hospital. A house in Arlington, Va., exploded into flames on Monday night while the police were preparing to search it after reports of gunfire and a standoff with the man who lived there. The authorities identified the man as James Yoo, 56, of Arlington and said that human remains found at the scene were believed to be his.
Victims in Washington County, Virginia house explosion identified
Virginia Home Explosion Kills One Firefighter and Injures Dozen Other People - The New York Times
Virginia Home Explosion Kills One Firefighter and Injures Dozen Other People.
Posted: Sat, 17 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
A neighbor said he smelled natural gas earlier Saturday night and called it into the gas company. "There's people that burn a fire and little fire pits, maybe something caught on fire, but not an entire house," said neighbor Logan Lambert. The homeowner told WJZ that she and her children were not home when this happened. Upon their arrival, crews found the home engulfed in flames and requested a 2nd-alarm alert to be sent out.
Investigators have not yet identified human remains found inside the home but "all factors point to that it’s this individual (Yoo)," Penn added. Craig Kailimai, special agent in charge of the Washington field division for the ATF, said investigators were conducting a “grid search” of the home to determine the cause and origin of the explosion. In 2018, Yoo filed a 163-page federal lawsuit in New York against his then-wife, younger sister and a hospital after he said he was committed against his will.
About 10 houses were damaged in the blast, and some neighbors were receiving shelter and housing assistance, Arlington Deputy County Manager for Public Safety Aaron Miller said. At around 7 p.m., authorities began to evacuate residents in nearby homes, including people who lived in the other part of the duplex. The fire department also turned off the gas running to the house from the meter. On Tuesday, officers wearing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives jackets combed a nearby street looking through papers scattered in the debris field. Junk mail carrying Yoo’s name and the address of the home that exploded was visible on the street. With his cellphone's camera, Wilson captured video of the inferno, which has been replayed countless times on local news stations.
Penn said police responded to the house at about 4.45pm on Monday after reports of shots fired. An elementary school is just a few blocks away, as is an Arlington County soccer field and fire station. The park and residential neighborhood were cordoned off by yellow police tape Tuesday, but at Escuela Key Elementary School across the street, kids were in class. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said federal agents and federal fire investigators were at the scene and assisting local authorities. "I would characterize these communications as primarily complaints about alleged frauds he believed were perpetrated against him," Sundberg said.
Penn noted that officials are aware of "concerning" social media posts allegedly made by Yoo, adding that they will be reviewed as part of the investigation. Penn said Yoo did not have any previous interactions with officers at the address of the now-obliterated home. The only documented incidents between Yoo and law enforcement, he said, are two calls for service for loud noise over the past couple of years. Assistant Fire Chief Jason Jenkins noted that the fire department turned off the gas line to the house before the explosion occurred. Early Tuesday, the police had not identified the man inside the home or what his condition was.
No serious injuries were suffered by police; the fate of the suspect who was inside the home when it exploded was not immediately clear, authorities said. Firefighters who responded to investigate the gas smell went inside the house to check for occupants and attempt to mitigate any leaks, he said. Johnson said investigators have not determined the cause of the explosion, but “we can assume it was propane-related.” He said the 500-gallon tank, located outside the house, had leaked the fuel into the house. While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the blast appears to have permanently shaken some neighbors.
Fire crews are assessing the neighborhood and police continue to investigate the fire and explosion. "Right now, we just know someone was injured, had some burn injuries. We don't know how or if he was in the house or outside," Francis said. Baltimore County officials said firefighters were called to a two-alarm house fire and explosion on Crafton Road just after 11 p.m. Fire officials say home explosions are not uncommon in the county, and if you smell gas, report it immediately.
In LinkedIn posts, Yoo accused the U.S. government of corruption and uploaded photos of a couple he said were his next-door neighbors in Arlington. And Mrs. Smith” — after the film in which Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie played a spy couple — and claimed his neighbors were surveilling him. A judge ordered Yoo to sell the Arlington property that exploded Monday by late October 2020 as part of the asset distribution in the divorce. Stephanie Yoo and a divorce attorney who represented her did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. “It just rocked our house,” said Suzanne Sundburg, 62, who lives a few blocks away and was working at home with her husband Monday afternoon when she started hearing “a strange thumping” that preceded the blaze. Ten other homes were affected by the explosion, Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management Director Aaron Miller said Tuesday.
Right before the explosion, police were using "nonflammable" chemical munitions to draw the suspect out of the home, Penn said. District Court for the Western District of New York, Yoo filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital in 2018, claiming he was hospitalized against his will in 2015. In 2021, he sued his ex-wife’s divorce attorneys for $300 million, accusing them of fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other offenses. Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said Friday that a cause for the fire has not yet been determined, but investigators believe the blaze started in the southwest corner of the building.
He was identified as 45-year-old Trevor Brown, a volunteer with Sterling Volunteer Fire Company. Brown was married with three children and had been with the county firefighting services since 2016, Johnson said. Four of the firefighters hurt in the blast remained in hospitals Saturday morning, according Loudoun Fire and Rescue System Chief Keith Johnson. Neighbor Davin Mitchell said he was grateful no one else appears to have been injured. "Over the years he lived there, I might have seen him three or four times, and [he] always had a backpack," she said.
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