PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The fire chief injured in a propane explosion that leveled a building in Farmington, Maine, has been released from the hospital.
An escort of firetrucks was accompanying Fire Chief Terry Bell as he left Maine Medical Center in Portland and headed home on Tuesday.
Bell’s brother, Fire Capt. Michael Bell, was killed in the Sept. 16 blast at the LEAP Inc. Building, and eight people were hurt. One firefighter and the building maintenance supervisor remained hospitalized Tuesday in Boston and Portland.
The building supervisor evacuated the building before the explosion; the blast happened after the supervisor returned with firefighters to investigate.
Investigators say the entirety of a 400-gallon propane tank had emptied because of a gas line leak, with much of the fuel entering the building’s basement.
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