Montgomery Community Media

The Long Branch Community Recreation Center welcomes hundreds of people every week from morning to evening. A diverse mix of cultures and languages are represented by the members who treat the center like a home away from home. But the August 10 explosion and fire in Silver Spring tested Director Morris Buster and his staff’s […]

The Long Branch Community Recreation Center is usually a place where hundreds of Silver Spring residents go to exercise, play board games or socialize with friends. Last month, the center became the emergency shelter for some 159 people left homeless by the August 10 natural gas explosion at Flower Branch Apartments. The center’s director, Morris […]

At a news conference held on Sept. 7, officials from the organization CASA announced that they have partnered with two law firms and will file litigation on behalf of the residents impacted by the tragic Flower Branch Apartments explosion. MyMCMedia’s Maureen Chowdhury reports.

At a news conference today, officials from the organization CASA announced that they have partnered with two law firms and will file  litigation on behalf of the residents impacted by the tragic Flower Branch Apartments explosion. Residents are demanding proper compensation and are seeking justice. During the news conference, resident Sofia Reyes shared her story […]

The August 10 natural gas explosion in Silver Spring continues to impact some of the families forced out of their homes. However, Kay Apartment Communities has answered questions MCM submitted about the placement of residents who were left homeless. Clark Melillo, President of Kay Apartment Communities, reports that a total of 24 units were destroyed […]

More than two dozen families left homeless by the August 10 explosion and fire in Silver Spring now have other places to live. Montgomery County and State agencies have been working with nonprofit organizations and officials at Kay Apartment Communities to find housing for approximately 55 households. Mary Anderson, spokeswoman for the county’s Department of […]

A man who reported the smell of gas at the Flower Branch Apartments continues to ask whether more could have been done to prevent the August 10 explosion. Investigators have confirmed that natural gas was the source of the blast that killed seven people. But MyMCMedia’s Phyllis Armstrong reports some residents are still asking who […]

Natural gas is the source of an explosion and fire that claimed seven lives in Silver Spring. The National Transportation and Safety Board is now taking over the investigation to determine exactly what ignited the gas at the Flower Branch Apartments on August 10. At a news conference this morning, the head of the Baltimore […]

Public safety officials from the Montgomery County Police Department, Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) provided an update on the continuing investigation into the August 10 explosion and fire at the Flower Branch Apartments located in the 8700 block of […]

A report released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) states that the pilot whose jet crashed into a Gaithersburg home on Dec. 8, 2014, failed to turn on de-icing equipment, which caused ice accumulation on the wings that led to the crash. “Pilots must rely on checklists and procedures because relying only on memory can […]