LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — One year after a deadly house explosion in Sterling, Loudoun County Fire and Rescue (LCFR) and members of the community gathered to honor volunteer firefighter Trevor Brown, who was killed in the blast.
LCFR held the candlelight vigil on Sunday, Feb. 16, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the future site of Firefighter Brown Memorial Park, located at 347 Silver Ridge Dr. in Sterling. The park is set to open this summer.
Brown, 45, was a member of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company. He died while responding to a gas leak at a home in the 300 block of Silver Ridge Drive on Feb. 16., 2024, when the house exploded. The leak involved an uncontained 500-gallon underground propane tank, and the blast left several other first responders injured.
“We are still healing, and we will be healing for the foreseeable future,” said Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue Chief Keith Johnson at Sunday’s vigil. “We have a lot to do; we strive to never let this event happen again.”
As a result of the explosion, Roger Bentley, a former employee of Southern States Cooperative, Inc. – Leesburg – Fairfax Petroleum Service (Southern States), is awaiting trial on charges related to the blast.
