LODD WV Firefighter, Paramedic Killed in Explosion

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West Virginia Firefighter, Paramedic Killed in Explosion

The explosion occurred during a tank leak

Emergency workers assess the scene of an explosion at a gas station in Ghent, W.Va., Jan. 30.

CNN Video Sample

Courtesy of WSAZ

There have been many injuries and at least nine of them are serious.

GHENT, W.Va.-- Four people were confirmed dead and at least four others reportedly suffered serious or critical injuries as a result of an explosion at the Little General Store on U.S.19 in Ghent, according Celeste Hinzman, Public Relations Officer for the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for the State of West Virginia.

A supervisor with the Raleigh County Emergency Operations Center said the original 911 call came in at 10:43 a.m. and reported a propane leak at the gas station, which is across the street from the Flat Top Lake entrance.

When firefighters arrived on the scene less than 10 minutes later, she said, the tank exploded, completely leveling the store and blowing a large fire truck from the Ghent Volunteer Fire Department onto its side.

Among those killed, Hinzman said, were one firefighter and one EMS worker.

Though Hinzman said four were injured, Kevin McGraw, marketing director for Raleigh General Hospital, said five people had been transported to the hospital were listed in serious condition early Tuesday afternoon.

McGraw said it was likely some, if not all of the patients, are likely to be transported to another facility for treatment.

Hinzman said representatives from the Regional Response Team, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, West Virginia State Police, West Virginia State Police, West Virginia State Fire Marshal's Office, Raleigh County Sheriff's Department, were on the scene.

A press conference during which further information is expected to be released, is scheduled to take place at the Ghent Volunteer Fire Department at 3 p.m.

Reports from the scene also indicate that houses located within a mile of the area had windows blown out.

Keli Akers said she was driving to her house about a mile from the gas station when she began to smell propane.

When she got to her house she said she "looked into the sky and saw blue mechanic napkins and hot dog holders falling from the sky into my yard."

Akers said her mother was home at the time of the explosion and told her "she felt a huge jolt and the whole house shook."

Once she learned what had happened, she tried to drive to the scene to look for vehicles belonging to people she knew who worked at the store, but could get no further than Ghent Elementary, which also suffered damage from the explosion.

"I know people there," she said, "but it's not just the people who work there. Everyone goes there. Anyone could have been there."

Raleigh County Board of Education member Larry Ford said, from reports he had heard, no students or employees of Ghent were injured. School was not expected to be dismissed early as buses would not be able to make it through the area due to the closure of U.S. 19.

Edited January 31, 2007 by Porsha911gt3