Anacostia Community Members Save Lives During Gas Leak and Explosion
Around 10:00 AM, on Thursday, January 18, 2024, an Anacostia community member called 911 about a gas leak near the DanAkil Convenience Store on Marion Barry Avenue SE. Next door to the convenience store is the Baby Einstein Child Development Center. The staff at the childcare center quickly began packing up all of the children and rushed them to safety at a local business outside of the safety zone before the Fire/EMS arrived.
According to fire officials approximately 15 minutes after the 911 call was made there was an explosion that very visibly destroyed the DanAkil Convenience Store. One person was reported to have minor injuries from debris on the street.
Local ANC Commissioners Robin McKinney and Jamila White rushed to the scene to ensure that Anacostia residents and the community were safe. Commissioner McKinney started streaming when she arrived on the scene and explained the situation for viewers online making sure to mention that all of the children were safe.
Local resident and BLM-DC organizer April Goggans streamed the situation live on the BLM-DC instagram account to get the word out to locals who may have been impacted by the gas leak and explosion. East of the River Mutual Aid’s headquarters are located a few blocks away. Goggans offered their counseling services for those impacted by the explosions. For more information you can contact East of the River Mutual Aid’s hotline at 202-630-0336.
Around noon, DC Fire Chief Donnelly spoke to the media and the Mayor also spoke. At this point, Washington Gas was reported to have been notified but still had not turned off the gas line so the fire was still active, creating a lot of smoke and occasional smaller explosions or “pops”. As of 1:00 PM, the gas has still not been shut off.
While many mainstream news sources credit the Fire Department for evacuating the area, this news source wants to be clear that it was community members who actually implemented the evacuation. The Fire Department representative said as much during the press conference, reinforcing the notion that We (members of the community) Keep Us Safe.
Mainstream media coverage of the fire:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/01/18/dc-gas-explosion-anacostia/