Reader George:

A huge explosion apparently caused by a large cache of ammonia nitrate pellets and chlorine exploded in a second story apartment at the Flower Branch Apartment complex [map], located in Silver Spring Maryland.

Maria Gonzales reported that she was on her way home to Baltimore, about three blocks away from the apartment when she heard a loud explosion followed by what she described as a “nose burning” smell of ammonia.

“I had just left the party and was on my way home when I heard a loud explosion. The smell of ammonia was horrible-it burned my nose,” said Maria.

The Washington Post reported that just after midnight on Wednesday, a massive explosion and fire leveled a Silver Spring apartment complex with a blast that could be felt a mile away, killing 2 people and injuring more than 30 people, including three firefighters, and forcing nearly 100 people from two buildings with some residents tossing their children from windows.

Authorities reported no fatalities, but rescue crews Thursday were still seeking to account for five to seven residents of the two adjacent buildings at the Flower Branch Apartments on Piney Branch Road. Authorities said there were 14 units in each building.

“People were dropping children and jumping out of other windows,” said Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein. “Everybody was getting out of the building as rapidly as possible.”

Goldstein said during a briefing around 6:20 a.m. that a K-9 team searching the rubble of the apartment complex had a “hit” in a particular location. Goldstein said it could indicate someone is trapped in the location.

Terrorists Likely Responsible For Leveling Silver Spring MD Apartment ComplexMaria claims she believes the explosion may have been caused by some middle eastern men that her friends and her observed unloading a barrel of “pool chlorine” from a van outside the apartment building earlier in the evening.

When asked how Maria was sure that what her friends and she had seen was a barrel of chlorine, Maria said that, “I have seen hundreds of those-there is no mistaking the warning label on the side of those big blue barrels.”

The most interesting report that has come from this incident is the observance of two Middle Eastern men unloading a barrel of pool chlorine pellets from a van and the overwhelming smell of ammonia that burned Maria’s nose. Chlorine and Ammonia is highly explosive when mixed together. A mixture of as little as ten pounds of ammonia and chlorine pellets would have definitely caused the magnitude of the reported explosion.