FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) - The Latest on a deadly propane explosion in Maine (all times local):
5:10 p.m.
Maine public safety officials say a firefighter killed in a propane explosion that injured eight other people was a 30-year member of the Farmington Fire Department.
Gov. Janet Mills on Monday ordered flags lowered to half-staff in honor of 68-year-old Fire Capt. Michael Bell.
His brother, Fire Chief Terry Bell, and four other firefighters are being treated at Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Officials say four of the firefighters are in the intensive care unit.
Yet another firefighter had less severe injuries and was treated and released. So was an ambulance worker.
A maintenance worker at the nonprofit center that exploded was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
The explosion happened after firefighters arrived to investigate the smell of gas at the recently constructed building.
Farmington is about 70 miles north of Portland.
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1:05 p.m.
Officials in Maine say a town’s fire chief is among the six injured in a propane explosion that killed a firefighter.
State public safety spokesman Steve McCausland said after Monday morning’s explosion at a nonprofit center in Farmington that five people remain hospitalized.
McCausland says an ambulance worker was treated and released. Town Selectman Scott Landry says one nonprofit employee is also hospitalized.
Gov. Janet Mills is from Farmington, and her office says she knew the firefighter who died. She says she is sending her condolences.
The explosion occurred after firefighters arrived to investigate the smell of gas at the recently constructed building. Farmington is about 70 miles north of Portland.
Mills promises an investigation that will provide answers.
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12:45 p.m.
A town official in Maine says a propane explosion that killed a firefighter injured four other firefighters, one employee of the nonprofit center where it occurred and one ambulance worker.
Farmington Selectman Scott Landry says the six were transferred to hospitals around the state.
The state’s largest hospital, Maine Medical Center in Portland, says its trauma teams expect to treat some victims.
Landry says that he doesn’t know specifics of their injuries but that they were taken to hospitals with better-equipped trauma centers. Landry is also a state representative.
The explosion occurred after firefighters arrived to investigate the smell of gas. Farmington is about 70 miles north of Portland.
The building had been evacuated before the explosion happened.
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10:10 a.m.
A town official says a propane gas explosion has destroyed a building in Farmington, Maine, and killed a firefighter. At least six others were injured.
Town Selectman Scott Landry says the building had been evacuated when someone smelled gas Monday morning. The explosion occurred after firefighters arrived.
Landry says that one firefighter was killed and that six others were taken to a hospital.
The blast around 8:30 a.m. was heard for miles around. Video shows debris raining down on homes and buildings in the neighborhood.
Farmington is about 70 miles north of Portland.
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9:45 a.m.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department in Maine says firefighters are responding to a building explosion that rocked the town of Farmington and a county sheriff says there are injuries.
Video from the scene indicates the building that houses a nonprofit devoted to helping people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities was reduced to rubble Monday morning. Paper and other debris rained down on the neighborhood.
Kim Hilton from the admissions office of nearby University of Maine at Farmington said she first thought a vehicle had crashed into her building.
Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols tells WMTW-TV that firefighters were injured. Law enforcement and fire officials say the explosion happened sometime before 8:30 a.m. at Leap Inc. on Farmington Falls Road. Further details weren’t immediately available.
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9:20 a.m.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department in Maine says firefighters are responding to an explosion at a building.
Video from the scene indicate the building that houses a nonprofit devoted to helping people with cognitive and intellectual disabilities was reduced to rubble Monday morning.
Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols tells WMTW-TV that firefighters were injured.
Law enforcement and fire officials say the explosion happened sometime before 8:30 a.m. at Leap Inc. on Farmington Falls Road. Further details weren’t immediately available.
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