One firefighter dead and seven others hurt in Farmington explosion. (Updated)

FARMINGTON, Maine — Officials said one firefighter is dead and seven others — including the town’s fire chief — were injured in a massive building explosion Monday morning on Route 2 that happened after a propane leak and has the area looking like “a war zone.”The explosion happened at 313 Farmington Falls Road — also known as Route 2 — around 8:30 a.m. Monday. Photographs from the scene showed the blast leveled the building housing a nonprofit, LEAP Inc., that serves adults with developmental disabilities.
Scott Landry, who serves as a Farmington selectman, state representative and on the organization’s board, said he had been told one firefighter died in the explosion after responding to a propane leak. Seven others were initially taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital.

Farmington police Chief Jack Peck Jr. said six people were taken by helicopter from there other hospitals, including Terry Bell, the town’s fire chief, and the victims were largely affected by burns. A hospital spokeswoman said one victim had been taken to a Boston hospital, three to Maine Medical Center in Portland and two others to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.

3 firefighters remain in critical condition after deadly Farmington explosion.

Three of the six firefighters who were injured in Monday morning’s explosion in Farmington are in critical condition at a Portland hospital.Maine Medical Center announced just before noon Tuesday that Farmington fire Chief Terry Bell; Capt. Scott Baxter; and his father, Theodore Baxter, are in critical condition, while Capt. Timothy Hardy and Joseph Hastings are in fair condition. A sixth firefighter, Deputy fire Chief Clyde Ross, was treated and released from a Farmington hospital on Monday.

The news comes as officials with the Maine fire marshal’s office and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives on Tuesday morning arrived at the scene at 313 Farmington Falls Road, where a two-story building that housed a nonprofit, LEAP Inc., that serves adults with developmental disabilities exploded following a gas leak, according to Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

https://bangordailynews.com/2019/09/17/news/mid-maine/investigators-arrive-at-scene-of-farmington-explosion-that-killed-firefighter/