FARMINGTON, Maine — A maintenance manager was credited Tuesday with saving lives by evacuating a building before an explosion that gravely injured him, while investigators began examining the rubble to determine the cause and the firefighter who died was saluted.
Larry Lord emptied the building of “at least a dozen or so employees” when the odor of propane gas was detected just minutes before the powerful blast destroyed the building and killed a firefighter, Police Chief Jack Peck said Tuesday.
“Without his quick actions, I think it would’ve been a much more horrific tragedy,” Peck told reporters.
Lisa Charles, who worked with the nonprofit that was runout of the building but was not there at the time of the blast, said she is grateful Lord got her colleagues to safety.
“They got a warning from the maintenance guy,” she said Monday, calling him a hero.
Her colleagues told her they were taken to a safe area but that Lord went back inside with firefighters before the blast occurred.
In addition to the death of Fire Capt. Michael Bell, 68, Lord and seven other people were injured when Monday’s explosion leveled the two-story building that housed LEAP, a nonprofit that serves people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities.
Investigators from the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began digging Tuesday through concrete, wood and debris for clues.
Part of the focus is on propane gas, which either caused the blast or must be ruled out, the fire marshal’s office said, predicting the work will take about a week.
Six people remained hospitalized Tuesday in Portland and Boston, with Lord and three fighters in critical condition, officials said.
Acting Farmington Fire Chief Tim Hardy said his department and the community will get past the tragedy, but it will take time.
“We will recover from this,” he said. “We’ll come together and conquer this together.”