2 Years Later

September 16th, 2019, the day Farmington stopped. A propane explosion at the newly constructed LEAP building took the life of one firefighter and injured 7 more. The building was leveled to nothing more than a pile of debris. The concussion was felt miles away. It was a miracle that there weren’t more casualties.

I had passed the building just minutes before the explosion. I noticed folks standing outside casually, as if waiting for a meeting at 8:30. I no sooner entered my office when the blast concussed through the earth. It was so loud and shook so hard, my first instinct was that our furnace just blew up. I ran to the basement and upon inspection realized all was fine…. Then I heard them. The endless whine of sirens heading toward the explosion site, it sounded like hundreds of emergency vehicles. A gut wrenching sound. We knew there were injuries.

With social media and digital connections, it was a matter of minutes before we were watching first hand accounts of the explosion, and eventually learned of Capt. Bell’s ultimate sacrifice.

It was a moment that Farmington won’t soon forget. A memorial was erected this year in remembrance of the firefighters and those affected by the tragedy.

I hadn’t planned on going to Farmington today, but I’m so glad I did.