A former Southern States Cooperative employee has been indicted for involuntary manslaughter in connection with an explosion that killed a Sterling firefighter earlier this year.
Roger Bentley, indicted by a Loudoun County Grany Jury, also faces charges of unlawful release of hazardous materials (propane), unlawful failure to maintain required records of an unauthorized discharge of hazhardous materials and unlawful failure to control or mitigate the discharge of hazardous materials, according to a statement from Loudoun County fire officials.
Sterling Firefighter Trevor Brown, 45, was killed Feb. 16 in an explosion as he and others were investigating the leak from the underground 500-gallon propane tank.
A dozen other firefighters were injured and nearby houses were damaged by the blast.
Court documents showed Bently, a supervisor, was called to the house by a delivery person who was frantic after smelling an odor of gas, WUSA9 reported.
Bentley arrived about two hours later and suggested they let the tank leak the propane out and "let it seep on the ground, and be on their merry way," per the search warrant.
Four hours later, the house exploded.
New court documents say back in 2021, Southern States knew there was a problem with the tank but because the homeowner wasn't using it for her pool, the problem was never corrected.
The homeowner called the company this year to service the tank since she wanted to sell the house. The plan was for Southern States to address the tank in late February, but according to the search warrants, an employee showed up earlier unannounced to fill up the tank.
The document said the employee became frantic over the strong smell of gas and called three supervisors to say there was a leak because of the tank's old condition. He suggested digging up the tank or removing the rest of the propane.
"I was not surprised because we knew things were not handled correctly by the company," a next-door neighbor told WUSA9. "The fact that they did not come out that night and she [homeowner] had to rely on the fire department coming out, we knew there were missteps from the get-go."
Neighbors told WRC they feel strongly that the sacrifice made by Brown should be remembered on the spot where he lost his life trying to protect the community.
Homeowners Association President Steve Honard has created a fundraising campaign with an ambitious goal: to create a little, peaceful park where the house once stood — a place that would honor Brown’s memory.
“We really don't want to see a house built there because it is to us kind of like sacred ground. It's like these people, these first responders, come out here and one of them gave their life to help us.”
