WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.110 --> 00:00:04.220 Appreciate everyone for joining us this morning yesterday in 2 00:00:04.290 --> 00:00:11.100 a natural gas leak caused an explosion here shortly before 8 am right 3 00:00:11.110 --> 00:00:15.730 here in the shopping center at the 8800 pull lock of Stanford Boulevard in Columbia 4 00:00:16.520 --> 00:00:19.060 our 1st responders received reports of 5 00:00:19.070 --> 00:00:24.000 a gas leak earlier that morning and were able to ensure that the area was clear 6 00:00:24.010 --> 00:00:29.480 people before the explosion happened and thankfully there were no injuries of 7 00:00:29.490 --> 00:00:36.400 civilians or 1st responders reported as of this moment this explosion was felt 8 00:00:36.410 --> 00:00:42.820 for miles around and caused understandable shock and confusion in our 9 00:00:42.830 --> 00:00:49.490 community and today I am 1st and foremost grateful that no one was hurt. 10 00:00:50.510 --> 00:00:55.510 I want to personally thank our Howard County Fire Department Department Fire and 11 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:00.420 Rescue services our police department all of our 1st responders for making sure 12 00:01:00.430 --> 00:01:06.410 that this area was clear and secure I also want to thank them for their speed 13 00:01:06.860 --> 00:01:10.820 bravery and professionalism I'd like to also send 14 00:01:10.830 --> 00:01:17.700 a special thanks to all of our government partners the governor our state and local 15 00:01:17.710 --> 00:01:23.500 officials who have been fully engaged in offering their support during this 16 00:01:23.620 --> 00:01:29.300 challenging time and I want to ensure that every Howard County resident and 17 00:01:29.310 --> 00:01:34.330 business owner as well and our visitors know that we are thoroughly investigating 18 00:01:34.660 --> 00:01:38.120 this event and in a moment B.G. 19 00:01:38.130 --> 00:01:40.350 Any representatives will be here to speak 20 00:01:40.360 --> 00:01:46.810 a little bit more in detail about the gas leak repair. All 21 00:01:47.090 --> 00:01:53.050 gas mains in the area have been inspected and no leaks other leaks have been found 22 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:57.260 at this moment and if anybody expects 23 00:01:57.300 --> 00:02:00.450 a gas leak I urge you to please. Get to 24 00:02:00.490 --> 00:02:06.870 a safe location and call B G N E immediately to report it at 25 00:02:06.910 --> 00:02:13.190 877-778-7798 or just call 26 00:02:13.200 --> 00:02:19.800 911 some our county government offices and the health department are right next 27 00:02:19.810 --> 00:02:25.050 door here at the ascend one building and this building has been inspected by 28 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:29.870 a Department of Fire and Rescue services our department of inspections license and 29 00:02:29.880 --> 00:02:35.900 permits and our bureau of facilities to ensure its safety 30 00:02:36.872 --> 00:02:41.412 our offices are open today and the people who are serving Howard County in the 31 00:02:41.422 --> 00:02:46.133 state of Maryland are here and working right now as 32 00:02:46.143 --> 00:02:50.413 a community we're going to be doing everything that we can to ensure that our 33 00:02:50.423 --> 00:02:56.273 business is and the response to this damage is done with our collective result 34 00:02:57.544 --> 00:03:03.174 and after yesterday's event we immediately mobilized our team for the Howard County 35 00:03:03.424 --> 00:03:08.664 Economic Development Authority to assist those businesses and workers who may find 36 00:03:08.674 --> 00:03:15.474 themselves displaced employers are now getting back to us with their space needs so 37 00:03:15.484 --> 00:03:20.874 that we can help match them with new temporary locations and want to thank many of 38 00:03:20.884 --> 00:03:26.284 the business owners throughout Howard County who have offered to be helpful and I 39 00:03:26.294 --> 00:03:33.174 know that Howard County businesses residents and workers are strong resilient 40 00:03:33.564 --> 00:03:40.554 and always come together when we have challenges and the going gets tough and I 41 00:03:40.564 --> 00:03:41.754 know that we are 42 00:03:41.804 --> 00:03:47.780 a united Howard County. Over the next few minutes County experts will expand upon 43 00:03:47.790 --> 00:03:53.960 the details of yesterday's events provide more on the status of the buildings and 44 00:03:53.970 --> 00:03:54.220 talk 45 00:03:54.230 --> 00:03:59.020 a little bit more about the next steps and timeline for recovery and for now I'd 46 00:03:59.030 --> 00:04:05.440 like to thank everyone who acted so quickly in responding to an event and to help 47 00:04:05.450 --> 00:04:05.960 us chart 48 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:11.940 a course forward to the next steps and while yesterday may have shaken Howard 49 00:04:11.950 --> 00:04:18.630 County we continue to stand firm and resolved and in gratitude for public 50 00:04:18.640 --> 00:04:23.950 safety professionals and we promise to continue to rebuild Thank you. 51 00:04:35.893 --> 00:04:39.973 So yesterday shortly after 7 o'clock in the morning fire part was dispatch for an 52 00:04:39.983 --> 00:04:45.403 automated general alarm to the address behind us here fire crews arrived on the 53 00:04:45.413 --> 00:04:46.913 scene to find 54 00:04:46.923 --> 00:04:51.643 a large crack in the front parking lot and an apparent natural gas leak from that 55 00:04:51.653 --> 00:04:57.093 crack. The initial crews made entry into the structure where they encountered 56 00:04:57.103 --> 00:05:03.213 dangerous concentrations of natural gas inside the building they initiated 57 00:05:03.223 --> 00:05:08.896 a quick and hasty search for occupants throughout the structure. Finding no 58 00:05:08.906 --> 00:05:11.166 occupants they've been evacuated to 59 00:05:11.176 --> 00:05:17.026 a safe distance isolated the area with the help of County Police established 60 00:05:17.036 --> 00:05:22.356 defensive firefighting positions and awaited the shut off of gas from the exterior 61 00:05:22.366 --> 00:05:27.706 by B.G. And. At approximately 7 58 in the morning there was 62 00:05:27.716 --> 00:05:30.816 a large explosion and a resulting exteriors fire from 63 00:05:30.826 --> 00:05:34.941 a crack in the parking lot that they had observed on arrival. The crews then took 64 00:05:34.951 --> 00:05:39.141 up positions where they could defend the building from that fire and eventually the 65 00:05:39.151 --> 00:05:44.131 gas was shut off which mitigated the hazard of that natural gas but created 66 00:05:44.141 --> 00:05:48.321 obviously the hazard of the collapse and the collapse and so throughout the day 67 00:05:48.331 --> 00:05:52.231 yesterday fire crews worked with other agencies to safely control access to the 68 00:05:52.241 --> 00:05:59.153 area prevent injuries and to assess the building structural integrity. And 69 00:05:59.163 --> 00:06:03.753 coordination with other agencies. Today we will continue with those efforts and 70 00:06:03.763 --> 00:06:07.033 hope to coordinate with building occupants so they can recover some of their key 71 00:06:07.043 --> 00:06:11.825 assets at this point the origin and cause of the end of the event is still an 72 00:06:11.835 --> 00:06:18.025 active investigation by the Office of the fire marshal and also County Police. I'd 73 00:06:18.035 --> 00:06:18.435 like to take 74 00:06:18.445 --> 00:06:23.215 a moment to recognize the high degree of collaboration that has occurred on this 75 00:06:23.225 --> 00:06:28.275 incident with between government agencies and private agencies alike this attitude 76 00:06:28.285 --> 00:06:34.407 and culture and how our county truly puts. The citizen 1st I'd also like to take 77 00:06:34.417 --> 00:06:39.097 a moment to commend the 1st responders on this incident. The Howard County 78 00:06:39.107 --> 00:06:45.330 department fire rescue the men and women. Howard County Police Department and B.G. 79 00:06:45.340 --> 00:06:51.140 And. I think we're all thankful that there was no loss of life on this incident I 80 00:06:51.150 --> 00:06:56.390 also believe that this outcome can be attributed to their preparation hard work 81 00:06:56.610 --> 00:07:02.360 dedication and their good tactical decision making Well 1st of all thank echo The 82 00:07:02.400 --> 00:07:08.010 Thanks for all of the prompt and skilled response by the Howard County Department 83 00:07:08.020 --> 00:07:13.160 of Fire and Rescue services the entire Howard County team and the responding B.G. 84 00:07:13.170 --> 00:07:15.890 Crew members who moved quickly to clear the area to 85 00:07:15.900 --> 00:07:20.750 a safe distance and turn off gas and electric service their actions prevented 86 00:07:20.760 --> 00:07:25.950 a very serious incident from becoming much worse this was an extremely dangerous 87 00:07:25.960 --> 00:07:31.920 event it remains very difficult situation for the businesses that are involved we 88 00:07:31.930 --> 00:07:35.600 are committed to fully understanding the cause and are working closely with 89 00:07:35.610 --> 00:07:41.360 investigators. This is as mentioned an active investigation we cannot speculate on 90 00:07:41.370 --> 00:07:46.040 the possible causes yet the source of the leak or the ignition source there is 91 00:07:46.050 --> 00:07:50.370 still equipment we have not been able to examine due to access issues with the 92 00:07:50.380 --> 00:07:54.640 building I can walk you through what we've done so far to ensure the situation is 93 00:07:54.650 --> 00:08:00.220 safe and provide preliminary findings from System inspections so 1st I'll go over 94 00:08:00.230 --> 00:08:03.490 the timeline. B.G. 95 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:07.530 Received a call from the fire department at 6 55 am The B.G. 96 00:08:07.540 --> 00:08:12.770 Emergency responder arrived at the site at 7 15 am he began the process of taking 97 00:08:12.780 --> 00:08:16.840 gas readings and assisting with setting up the safety zone and began working on 98 00:08:16.850 --> 00:08:21.150 a plane to turn off gas and power during that process as was mentioned the 99 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:25.760 explosion occurred at approximately 80 AM or just before 8 am our responding 100 00:08:25.770 --> 00:08:30.790 employee was an injured we had him examined by emergency personnel on site and he 101 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:36.260 was released with no injuries. Once the explosion occurred dition crews arrived and 102 00:08:36.270 --> 00:08:40.660 began the process of turning off the gas the gas was turned off at 10 am yesterday 103 00:08:40.670 --> 00:08:45.700 morning. We then began the process of reviewing the history of gas odor calls from 104 00:08:45.710 --> 00:08:50.340 the site there were no previous recent calls and not in the last year at this site 105 00:08:50.800 --> 00:08:55.740 there was one call in February 28th seen from one of the restaurants located in the 106 00:08:55.750 --> 00:08:58.630 building and that was inspected and resolved as 107 00:08:58.640 --> 00:09:03.690 a customer appliance issue. We also reviewed the inspection history for the mains 108 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:08.560 and services in this area the gas mains and service is in this area it is on 109 00:09:08.570 --> 00:09:15.240 a yearly scheduled inspection schedule that inspection occurred in July 2900 110 00:09:15.560 --> 00:09:21.580 and no issues were found at the time. Yesterday we also inspected all of the gas 111 00:09:21.590 --> 00:09:27.780 means and services in the area bounded by snow and River Parkway Magara road Dobbin 112 00:09:27.790 --> 00:09:32.950 road and Little Patuxent Parkway for leaks none were found that inspection is 113 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:37.670 conducted from vehicle mounted sensors and patrols on foot all surrounding 114 00:09:37.680 --> 00:09:44.631 buildings were canvases canvassed no gas gas issues were found we also tested 115 00:09:44.641 --> 00:09:49.131 the pressures of the mains in the area all were normal we tested the level of 116 00:09:49.141 --> 00:09:53.711 mercaptan safety odorants that's in the gas and it was found to be normal 117 00:09:54.583 --> 00:09:58.533 a portion of the service pipe serving this building that we were able to access was 118 00:09:58.543 --> 00:10:04.234 pressure tested and passed the test with no leaks electric and gas service in this 119 00:10:04.244 --> 00:10:09.034 building remain off until inspectors authorize returning service all other 120 00:10:09.044 --> 00:10:13.677 surrounding buildings continue to have normal service and initial outages were the 121 00:10:13.687 --> 00:10:16.087 result of terminating services to the area as 122 00:10:16.097 --> 00:10:20.660 a safety precaution until the building could be isolated. Today the process 123 00:10:20.670 --> 00:10:25.730 continues we are standing by to inspect equipment once again we have to thank her 124 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:30.600 mergence the responder partners everyone in our county county executive bar we 125 00:10:30.610 --> 00:10:34.970 thank our customers and we're committed to understanding what occurred in order to 126 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:40.320 make our system safer as always as Councilman I'm sorry County Executive all said 127 00:10:40.820 --> 00:10:45.240 as anyone with any gas safety concerns should contact B.G. 128 00:10:45.250 --> 00:10:45.420 From 129 00:10:45.430 --> 00:10:52.450 a safe location at 877-778-7798 we were responding immediately 130 00:10:52.710 --> 00:10:59.540 and make the situation safe thank you. We were on site yesterday shortly after the 131 00:10:59.650 --> 00:11:05.880 initial explosion with our chief by the inspector Tom Hoskins. We did initial 132 00:11:05.890 --> 00:11:10.560 evaluation of the building to determine what areas were safe and whether there was 133 00:11:10.570 --> 00:11:15.650 any concern about further collapse of the building. Probably 2 pm A structural 134 00:11:15.660 --> 00:11:18.650 engineer from the owners representative showed up and we did 135 00:11:18.660 --> 00:11:24.720 a more detailed analysis of the building he was also who was able provide original 136 00:11:24.730 --> 00:11:29.830 structural drawings for the building. There's obviously extensive damage to the 137 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:30.300 building 138 00:11:31.130 --> 00:11:36.440 a good portion of it is cosmetic and non load bearing the extent of the structural 139 00:11:36.540 --> 00:11:41.030 frame of the building is more or less concentrated around the central blast area 140 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.690 the other part that we're doing right now is trying to determine which areas the 141 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:49.270 building are safe to enter so that some of the occupants and tenants can get in and 142 00:11:49.280 --> 00:11:53.870 recover some of their property and start the recovery process as far as retrieving 143 00:11:53.880 --> 00:12:00.790 some of their their goods and starting to get the recovery process my team is here 144 00:12:00.800 --> 00:12:04.760 on the ground right now working with the property owner we have 145 00:12:04.770 --> 00:12:10.530 a list of 22 impacted businesses we are contacting those businesses assessing their 146 00:12:10.540 --> 00:12:17.290 needs and working with our fire safety building and. Inspections and the police 147 00:12:17.300 --> 00:12:22.250 department making sure that those businesses. Then get in and recover immediately 148 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:26.780 you know important documents were computer hardware that they may need we are 149 00:12:26.790 --> 00:12:31.450 scheduling those appointments directly longer term we are assessing the businesses 150 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:36.270 needs and those that can be relocated we will be finding temporary space for them 151 00:12:36.570 --> 00:12:40.100 and obviously working with us and the other businesses that are impacted that that 152 00:12:40.110 --> 00:12:44.870 may not be able to be relocated immediately but making sure that there is minimal 153 00:12:44.880 --> 00:12:49.900 impact to to their to their livelihood as well as their their employees we're 154 00:12:49.910 --> 00:12:53.280 working with our Office of workforce development to make sure that the employees 155 00:12:53.290 --> 00:12:58.460 are also taken care of as well thank you and I just want our mind everyone we will 156 00:12:58.470 --> 00:13:04.130 have an opportunity for business owners and employees to enter the building later 157 00:13:04.140 --> 00:13:10.010 this afternoon to schedule that appointment to schedule that appointment the E.P.A. 158 00:13:10.020 --> 00:13:12.880 Is urging those individuals to call 159 00:13:13.050 --> 00:13:19.470 410-313-6517 extension 2 schedule that 160 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:24.380 access appointment and as for the fire department we are urging everyone to make 161 00:13:24.390 --> 00:13:29.680 sure that you wear proper protective gear at that time such as the hard hats and 162 00:13:29.690 --> 00:13:35.200 safety glasses that we the fire department will provide but also to bring long 163 00:13:35.210 --> 00:13:41.910 sleeve shirts pants and proper shoes to wear such as Or or no flip flops no 164 00:13:41.920 --> 00:13:48.040 sandals or any type of slip on shoe. So at this moment well open it up for 165 00:13:48.050 --> 00:13:51.210 questions from the media and we'll have our subject matter experts give those 166 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:55.730 answers. Yes. 167 00:14:13.530 --> 00:14:18.430 So we are the 1st gas utilities United States 200 years of service more than 200 168 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:23.430 years of service. You know gas is an energy source and you know all energy sources 169 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:28.490 carry with inherent risk we do as much as we can to mitigate that risk and make it 170 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:29.620 as safe as possible 171 00:14:30.280 --> 00:14:35.460 a big part of the gas safety program that we have and others have across the 172 00:14:35.470 --> 00:14:40.280 country is to make sure that our emergency responders are well informed about how 173 00:14:40.290 --> 00:14:44.990 to deal with emergency situations and more importantly that our customers and the 174 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:47.660 general public are aware of what to do in 175 00:14:47.670 --> 00:14:53.550 a gas safety situation and so those those issues those best practices were followed 176 00:14:53.560 --> 00:14:58.840 in this case and it involves contacting us immediately if you suspect an issue if 177 00:14:58.850 --> 00:15:04.510 you suspect natural gas is is leaking anywhere in our emergency responders move 178 00:15:04.520 --> 00:15:09.590 very quickly to make sure that his station situation remains safe please be with. 179 00:15:12.630 --> 00:15:19.520 Us right. Here we're. Going to have to defer to 180 00:15:19.530 --> 00:15:21.480 the Howard County Fire Department for that or. 181 00:15:28.110 --> 00:15:32.340 Yet crews actually. Divisional call was for 182 00:15:32.380 --> 00:15:36.840 a general fire alarm following that there was actually some people want some 183 00:15:37.140 --> 00:15:42.650 civilians on site that reported that there's this. About 8 or 10 foot crack that 184 00:15:42.660 --> 00:15:45.930 seems to be in the from the parking lot that seems to be where the noise was coming 185 00:15:45.940 --> 00:15:52.650 from and that's what crews encountered when they arrived. Yes I don't have that 186 00:15:52.730 --> 00:15:58.500 level of details are. No no not a not a hole but 187 00:15:58.510 --> 00:16:05.150 a graph and. I don't have that information 188 00:16:05.160 --> 00:16:10.920 exactly it's it was pretty obvious from the fire that after the explosion the fire 189 00:16:10.930 --> 00:16:14.900 that occurred that that there was probably some natural gas at least accumulated in 190 00:16:14.910 --> 00:16:17.330 there whether that was the actual leak much more. 191 00:16:24.370 --> 00:16:28.810 I'm not. There's none that I'm aware of. 192 00:16:32.370 --> 00:16:39.080 Here. Well 193 00:16:39.300 --> 00:16:43.620 I mean I'm sure they experienced the explosion at close range which anybody who's 194 00:16:43.630 --> 00:16:48.750 been anywhere near one will definitely get your attention. To my knowledge part of 195 00:16:48.760 --> 00:16:53.760 our does not have any camera footage of this we do not have dash cams Roland in our 196 00:16:53.770 --> 00:17:00.470 apparatus typically so. Well it's difficult 197 00:17:00.690 --> 00:17:06.100 difficult to explain No they were it's probably at least 100 feet away obviously we 198 00:17:06.140 --> 00:17:10.870 suffered no losses of after as no damaged apparatus so they were far enough which 199 00:17:10.910 --> 00:17:16.710 I'm very thankful for. Here right. Here in. 200 00:17:19.850 --> 00:17:26.480 What I can feel. So are our Clark County plan is to assess the structure for 201 00:17:26.490 --> 00:17:33.490 structural integrity. And work through the development. To coordinate with 202 00:17:33.860 --> 00:17:38.910 the tenants or the occupants of the they can make escorted entry into the building 203 00:17:39.760 --> 00:17:43.120 and retrieve some of their key assets we hope to get that done somewhat today 204 00:17:43.580 --> 00:17:46.450 obviously there's going to be limitations with that because part of the building 205 00:17:46.760 --> 00:17:51.200 you can't even do that with but it within the within our ability to do so we will 206 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:52.750 we will Sis in any way we can. 207 00:17:59.260 --> 00:18:03.490 Get. It but the whole structure is impacted from a power in 208 00:18:03.500 --> 00:18:08.800 a gas supply and also structural integrity which may or may not be an issue for 209 00:18:08.810 --> 00:18:11.360 anyone occupancy but it's clearly 210 00:18:11.370 --> 00:18:17.560 a problem for all of them even. If. 211 00:18:18.900 --> 00:18:23.220 That is correct. Department of licensing and permits are working with engineers to 212 00:18:23.330 --> 00:18:26.920 determine that even if they are untouched I believe they still have issues with 213 00:18:26.930 --> 00:18:31.240 power and gas and and I would caution to say that while it looks on touch from our 214 00:18:31.250 --> 00:18:31.780 distance 215 00:18:32.450 --> 00:18:36.390 a concussion wave that is produced by such an explosion can cause damage that you 216 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:43.380 can't really see from here. I have no idea I'm 217 00:18:43.390 --> 00:18:50.060 sorry. To hear. 218 00:18:57.040 --> 00:19:02.270 So and so. With this explosion there really was no building fire afterwards the 219 00:19:02.280 --> 00:19:07.180 fire the the fire that happened afterwards happened kind of from that crevice or 220 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:12.310 crack in the front parking lot. It did start to impede the building but it never 221 00:19:12.320 --> 00:19:18.240 caught the building on fire so what you're seeing is blast damage. And you can kind 222 00:19:18.250 --> 00:19:23.130 of see. From where the damage is the most where the epicenter was and I think it 223 00:19:23.290 --> 00:19:24.990 pretty much holds true. 224 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:47.530 Howard County is professional we are experienced in dealing with challenges and 225 00:19:47.540 --> 00:19:51.960 while they don't happen as frequently we know how to come together and I think this 226 00:19:51.970 --> 00:19:58.610 is just another great example of the bravery and preparation and professionalism 227 00:19:58.810 --> 00:20:03.600 of our team so I knew that once we had the power to fire and rescue services police 228 00:20:03.610 --> 00:20:06.840 department specializes in permits E.T.A. 229 00:20:07.030 --> 00:20:11.380 We actually had much of the infrastructure because we had gone through natural 230 00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:16.510 disasters before to mobilize very quickly and ensure that we could address the 231 00:20:16.520 --> 00:20:20.580 needs of the concerns of residents businesses and workers in 232 00:20:20.590 --> 00:20:23.100 a way that will be positively impactful. 233 00:20:34.890 --> 00:20:41.250 So I began hearing about some of these issues and concerns reached out to our top 234 00:20:41.260 --> 00:20:47.190 leadership team and then we mobilized and began conference calls and work through 235 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:50.970 the process to ensure that everyone who needed to be at the table and part of the 236 00:20:50.980 --> 00:20:56.760 conversation were part of that and each person working on their specific duties and 237 00:20:56.770 --> 00:21:00.530 in their portfolio but still communicating and saying collaborative so that we 238 00:21:00.540 --> 00:21:05.840 could mobilize quickly react quickly and ensure that everyone knew what each other 239 00:21:05.880 --> 00:21:08.070 entity was doing so that we could be effective. 240 00:21:20.940 --> 00:21:27.240 Again we're thankful that if something like this some devastating incident like 241 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:29.490 this had to happen it happened on 242 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:35.180 a Sunday morning when there was no loss of life or injuries moving forward we will 243 00:21:35.190 --> 00:21:36.110 continue as 244 00:21:36.120 --> 00:21:42.530 a united Howard County coming together never forgetting how to help and support our 245 00:21:42.540 --> 00:21:48.050 businesses our residents those who are impacted as workers and coming back even 246 00:21:48.060 --> 00:21:49.430 more strong we are 247 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:54.360 a resilient community and we know how to come to some together that's the Howard 248 00:21:54.370 --> 00:21:54.970 County way. 249 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:29.300 That's what I was important to me the immediately mobilize our Economic Development 250 00:22:29.310 --> 00:22:33.620 Authority our office of Workforce Development to ensure that not only the 251 00:22:33.630 --> 00:22:38.930 businesses but the workers had all the support that they needed on day one to 252 00:22:38.940 --> 00:22:42.180 continue to move forward and be successful this is going to be 253 00:22:42.190 --> 00:22:45.900 a challenging time for all of us but I think that we can come together mitigate 254 00:22:45.910 --> 00:22:50.400 those challenges working with different property owners looking at frankly our 255 00:22:50.410 --> 00:22:55.450 inventory of properties and seeing how these businesses can survive this challenge 256 00:22:55.570 --> 00:22:59.580 and continue as we move forward in the future years to not just survive but to 257 00:22:59.590 --> 00:23:06.230 thrive. So they're going through the inspection process 258 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:11.470 once it's been cleared and we're going to make sure that it is safe safety will 259 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:15.850 continue to be the top priority and as we move forward to look at the structural 260 00:23:15.860 --> 00:23:20.450 integrity we'll be able to evaluate business by business. With the most appropriate 261 00:23:20.460 --> 00:23:27.060 time to come Aaron here. She. Bought the pacific time line of today. 262 00:23:28.550 --> 00:23:33.280 So so we're hopeful that we can. Kind of working with 263 00:23:33.530 --> 00:23:38.390 a condom authority to schedule with some of the occupants. But we're hopeful that 264 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:42.620 we can initiate that process today to at least allow them entry to get some of 265 00:23:42.630 --> 00:23:46.090 their their key assets it's not going to be long long time but it's going to be 266 00:23:46.100 --> 00:23:50.230 escorted and to go in and get the real important things in the most meaningful 267 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:54.610 things and then we're all incredibly sympathetic to their their plight and we're 268 00:23:54.620 --> 00:23:59.980 here for them and here you are. You meet. 269 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:17.140 Me. Yeah and any idea of 270 00:24:17.150 --> 00:24:19.360 capacity for me it would be implied I mean there's 271 00:24:19.370 --> 00:24:21.350 a coffee shop that obviously it was 272 00:24:21.360 --> 00:24:26.330 a Monday morning. You know we we were here operating at this incident for almost an 273 00:24:26.340 --> 00:24:30.940 hour before it exploded so I my belief is that we would have had time to evacuate 274 00:24:30.950 --> 00:24:33.550 those people. However when 275 00:24:33.560 --> 00:24:38.800 a blast like that happens this area itself becomes much denser for the miles around 276 00:24:38.810 --> 00:24:43.510 here and there was damage to other buildings there was proper oaken windows and 277 00:24:44.350 --> 00:24:49.160 some minor damage on the inside to this and one building here and it's it's hard to 278 00:24:49.170 --> 00:24:52.470 say with that much more happening more people in immediate proximity it would have 279 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:56.310 made that much more difficult for us but I still like to believe we would have got 280 00:24:56.320 --> 00:25:00.080 it done. They Steve that's that's going to be it is going to be 281 00:25:00.090 --> 00:25:07.650 a fair question so. I'm 282 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:12.140 not aware of that personally I know this is an active investigation through our 283 00:25:12.150 --> 00:25:15.880 office of the farm marshal the police department so if there are cameras around and 284 00:25:15.890 --> 00:25:19.550 video it will be obtained through that investigatory process.