Propane Leak Caused Blast That Killed ME Firefighter

A propane line that had leaked 400 gallons of propane from a tank over the course of a weekend was responsible for the explosion that leveled the LEAP Inc. building in Farmington last week, killing a firefighter and injuring seven others.

The state fire marshal’s office Friday confirmed that the propane leak was responsible for the explosion, following an investigation by state and federal officials who interviewed more than 100 people about the blast.

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The propane tank at the LEAP building had been filled Friday, Sept. 13 with 400 gallons of propane but was empty when the building exploded just after 8 a.m. last Monday, Sept. 16. The explosion seriously injured six Farmington firefighters and killed Fire Capt. Michael Bell. A LEAP employee, maintenance supervisor Larry Lord, was also severely injured in the incident.

Investigators located the leak in a propane line buried under LEAP’s paved parking lot, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. The line connected an outdoor propane tank at the back of the property to the basement of the building. The leak was “significant,” McCausland said, and its cause — as well as what sparked the explosion — is still unknown.

McCausland said the distinct smell of propane may have been diluted by the soil under the parking lot where the leak occurred. He said investigators believe the propane permeated the soil under the parking lot in addition to leaking into the basement.

The explosion leveled the two-story building that had been renovated last year.

Lord and another LEAP employee checked the tank early Monday before ushering people out of the building minutes before it exploded. Lord was in the basement, along with firefighters “TD” Hardy and Joseph Hastings and Capt. Scott Baxter when the explosion happened. Upstairs, Capt. Bell was on the first floor with his brother, Fire Chief Terry Bell, who was standing near the rear door of the building, McCausland said. Deputy Fire Chief Clyde Ross and firefighter Ted Baxter, Scott Baxter’s father, were in the parking lot.