LAYTONSVILLE, Md. — At approximately 7:45 a.m. Tuesday, there was an explosion caused by a gas leak at the corporate headquarters of Ruppert Landscape.
Two people were injured and both are receiving medical care for their injuries.
Police/fire units were on the scene within minutes and the campus was evacuated pending further investigation and inspection. One building was severely damaged in the explosion and further structural analysis will be necessary to determine a path forward.
“We are so grateful that no lives were lost today, and we are praying for the recovery of those injured,” said CEO Craig Ruppert. “Keeping our team safe is always first and foremost in our mind, but an incident like this is just something you never think will happen. We are just incredibly grateful for the quick response of so many here today, and we ask that you keep our team in your thoughts and prayers.”
Damage and safety assessments are underway at this time.
UPDATE: The following information comes from Ruppert's LinkedIn feed.
We have had a lot going on since yesterday. And while the “stuff” can all be replaced, our most important update is about those who were injured in yesterday's incident. We sincerely appreciate all the prayers and well wishes that we have received on their behalf. We've received word that the technician who was injured while inspecting the building is stable and expected to fully recover. Our Ruppert team member who was injured is also stable, although still in critical condition. He is receiving the best care possible and we continue to pray for his swift recovery.
As you can probably imagine, today has been a day of clean up. We are busy salvaging what we can from the damaged building. We’ve been lucky to have recovered some company memorabilia, miscellaneous files and some personal belongings from those who worked in the building. Unfortunately, the historic house isn’t structurally sound and has since been demolished. There has been a fire/explosive investigator here throughout yesterday and last night who has cleared us to go back into the surrounding buildings on campus. While they still don’t know the exact cause of the explosion, they have inspected the lines and the other campus buildings and said that it is safe for us to be operating out of them.
We want to say thank you to the first responders who arrived on the scene quickly and took action when needed; thank you to our team members who have continued servicing our customers, helping each other and enabling Ruppert to move forward in the wake of this event; and thank you to all those who have reached out with kind words and concern - we can't express how much it means to us to receive such an outpouring of support from our community. On behalf of the entire Ruppert team, thank you.