STERLING, Va. (DC News Now) — A family is planning on constructing a memorial to the volunteer firefighter killed in a house explosion earlier this year, right on the site where the blast happened.
On Feb. 16, volunteer firefighter 45-year-old Trevor Brown was killed and 13 others were hurt after a home exploded at the corner of Silver Ridge Drive and Seneca Ridge Drive.
Steve Honard and his wife bought the property earlier this year. He said he’s cleared his fair share of broken glass from the lot where the house used to stand and now wants to build a permanent memorial park to honor Brown.
“We just didn’t feel it was appropriate to have a house built here,” Honard said as the reason for why he and his wife purchased the land.
A temporary flag stands as a tribute now – not just to Brown, but to the 12 other firefighters injured.
Honard’s wife came up with the idea for the memorial park since her father and stepfather served as volunteer firefighters. She told Honard that she never thought one of them would go off and encounter something catastrophic where they wouldn’t return or be hospitalized.
“She just really felt…it’s the right thing to do,” he noted.
The Honards dipped into their personal savings to buy the land, but they’ve run into another problem.
“We’re running out of money,” Honard said. They have now turned to social media to raise the estimated $30,000 to build the memorial park, which could be completed by the end of July 2025.
