‘Should never happen': Lawsuit seeks $100M in fatal Virginia house explosion

Firefighter killed, several injured in blast that leveled house in Sterling

More than a year after a house explosion killed a volunteer firefighter and injured several others, that firefighter’s family, colleagues and the homeowner are suing the utility company and two of its employees.

Volunteer firefighter Trevor Brown, 45, was killed in the explosion that leveled a Sterling, Virginia, home on Feb. 16, 2024.

Friday morning, his loved ones filed a lawsuit against the utility company – Southern States – seeking $100 million in damages.

The victims believed the company downplayed the danger just before the blast.

The lawsuit – filed by Brown’s family, fellow firefighters, the homeowner and several others who were injured – lays out disturbing new details about the alleged violations and negligence that led to the tragic explosion. 

“Catastrophic. That’s how I would describe it,” said attorney Demetry Pikrallidas, who represents one of the eight plaintiffs. “Catastrophic and once in a lifetime. These things should never happen.”

His client, volunteer fire Capt. Karam Mashaal, was standing outside of the home when it exploded. He’s seeking $20 million in damages.

“When you’re 50 feet away from a blast, what it does in slow motion, it basically compresses your head,” Pikrallidas said. “It’s instantaneous and back.

“It has had neurological issues for my client,” he said. “It has had, he is having tremors. He is having emotional, psychological damages. He’s a father of five. His wife is stay at home. He had two jobs in cybersecurity; he can now only work one. He’s doing everything he can to keep it together.”

According to the timeline in the lawsuit, employees of Southern States filled a defective underground tank with 125 gallons of propane and then ignored the leak for hours, downplaying the danger. At one point, they told the homeowner, “It’s not a big deal’ I’ve been doing this a long time.”

The suit also alleges that moments before the explosion, the same employee told firefighters on scene he did not believe it was an emergency.

“Karam Mashaal was arguing with the manager, Roger Bently,” Pikrallidas said. “You have Bently telling him it’s not an emergency and Mashaal is saying, ‘Hold on. There’s more here. We’ve got hazmat here. There’s more here.’ So, that’s, that’s part of the problem here. It was basically pushed down as if it were nothing.”

According to the suit, Brown was partially decapitated when the explosion turned a piece of a door frame into a projectile. His family seeks $100 million in damages. 

“As a matter of policy, Southern States Cooperative, Inc. cannot comment on the details of any pending or ongoing litigation matters,” the utility told News4 in a statement.

“Safety was completely ignored here,” Pikrallidas said. “It wasn’t even a thought; it was ignored. Deliberately. And that can never happen again.”

In October, Bently -- the former Southern States employee – was indicted for involuntary manslaughter and other charges. At last update, his criminal trial is set for this summer.

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