Propane manager guilty of manslaughter in blast that killed Va. firefighter

Washington Post

2 days ago

After a house in Loudoun County, Virginia, exploded last year, killing a firefighter, prosecutors charged a gas company manager with involuntary manslaughter, saying he failed to take steps to stop a leak from an underground propane tank. On Monday, a Loudoun jury found him guilty of that charge and three misdemeanors related to the gas leak after deliberating for four days.
Loudoun firefighter Trevor Brown, 45, was killed instantly by the blast in the county's Sterling area, which leveled a two-story house owned by Kelley Woods. On Feb. 14, 2024, Woods requested a refill of her propane tank, which evidence showed had been previously diagnosed with a leak. When a Southern States Petroleum Service technician began filling the tank two days later, he smelled the telltale odor added to propane and stopped after 125 gallons.
The technician called Roger L. Bentley, the service manager, who soon arrived the house on a Friday afternoon. He told Woods the odor 'wasn't a big deal,' according to prosecutors. They said Bentley told Woods that Southern States would return Monday to dig up and replace the tank, which had been installed in 1991. Bentley allegedly told Woods not to worry and that if the odor worsened, Woods should call him, not the fire department, which he predicted would make 'a big deal out of nothing.'
Within hours of Bentley leaving, the odor had spread and neighbors called the fire department, who then called Bentley, according to testimony at his trial in Loudoun Circuit Court. Bentley assured the firefighters that the leak was minor, but when the firefighters' gas measurements showed high levels of propane, they evacuated the house and nearby homes around 8 p.m., prosecutors said.
Minutes later, the house exploded, sending a thunderous boom across Loudoun and pummeling nearby houses with violent shock waves. Brown, standing in the front yard, was killed by a piece of the house as it shot outward, court records show. Two firefighters were trapped in the basement, while 10 other firefighters and numerous neighbors suffered injuries. Part of the couch Woods had been sitting on minutes earlier was found in a tree.
'He walked away without warning anyone, doing anything and left a land mine,' Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Eden Holmes said of Bentley in her closing argument. She said Bentley 'knew the risk of just allowing propane to flow out into the yard. … If the defendant had not made these choices, this house would not have exploded.'
But Bentley didn't smell anything particularly bad, didn't see or hear any evidence of a leak when examining the top of the tank, and his gas detection device only picked up 'a faint residual odor,' defense lawyer Kelly L. King said. She said Bentley repeatedly told investigators that 'he didn't know there was a leak.'
Bentley 'didn't walk away from a leak,' King said, trying to shift blame to the homeowner. 'He didn't know. The only one who knew was Kelley Woods. She was obligated to keep that tank safe,' having learned in 2017 that it was damaged and being told in 2021 that it would cost $5,200 to replace the tank.
Bentley also told Woods her tank needed to be replaced, but Woods didn't tell him she had previously been told of a leak, King said. 'Somehow it becomes her word that ends up becoming the basis of this prosecution,' King said. Bentley told her to call him any time over the weekend, and that as a 38-year employee with a spotless record, he had no reason to walk away from potential trouble.
'There's not been one shred of evidence that Roger Bentley knew there was a leak,' King said.
'Why come back Monday and take [the tank] out if there isn't a leak?' Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Brian Boyle asked in rebuttal, though he acknowledged Woods never heard Bentley use the word 'leak.' But when Bentley left without taking further action and told Woods not to call the fire department, 'that's the 'callous disregard'' needed to qualify as involuntary manslaughter, Boyle said.
Bentley, 68, was indicted by a Loudoun grand jury in October for manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts for releasing hazardous materials and failing to record or mitigate a harmful discharge. The trial started July 7, and the jury deliberated for 23 hours over four days on the four counts.
Jurors declined to comment afterward. Sentencing was set for Nov. 6. Bentley, who did not testify during the trial, did not react to the verdict and declined to comment afterward. He was allowed to remain free pending sentencing by Loudoun Circuit Court Judge James E. Plowman Jr.
Bentley faces a sentencing range of probation up to 10 years in prison. Loudoun Commonwealth's Attorney Bob D. Anderson said charging Bentley with a crime was intensely discussed within his office, and 'it wasn't an easy decision to make.' But he and his prosecutors decided 'there are repercussions for certain activity. And the jury found that activity required certain repercussions.'
James S. Williams, the Loudoun fire chief, called the case 'an important chapter in our overall recovery. But nothing brings Trevor back.' Williams said eight of the firefighters injured that night have returned to duty, but two are still on leave.
Bentley and Southern States also face a lawsuit filed in May by Brown's widow, Woods and her tenant, one of the injured firefighters and several neighbors of the house on Silver Ridge Drive. Brown had three children, now ages 12, 10 and 8.
Demetry Pikrallidas, a lawyer for three of the plaintiffs, maintained that the explosion was 'a preventable disaster — plain and simple.' Pikrallidas said: 'It was mishandled from the outset. Our position has always been, and remains, that this was the result of a systemic failure by Southern States.' No trial date has been set for the civil case.
The leak from the 23-year-old propane tank was determined to be coming from two fingertip-size holes in the bottom of the tank, the lawyers in the case said, which couldn't be seen from the ground. And then below the tank, a french drain had been installed from the basement into the backyard, which investigators believe may have funneled the propane into the house.
But the investigators could not determine what sparked the blast, in part because of the annihilation of Woods' home. 'If they can't tell you what the ignition source is,' King said, 'how can they prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Roger Bentley caused it?'
To prove involuntary manslaughter, the prosecution had to show that Bentley's actions were 'gross, wanton and culpable to show a callous disregard for human life' and that they were the 'proximate cause' of Brown's death.