FARMINGTON, Maine — Five years ago at 8:18 a.m., the Farmington community was forever changed. A tragic explosion at the LEAP Incorporated building took the life of Farmington Fire Capt. Michael Bell. Five other firefighters and Larry Lord, a maintenance worker at LEAP who's been called a hero for evacuating the facility after smelling gas, were also injured.
Maine state law looks different as a result of an effort to keep Mainers safe in the aftermath of the explosion.
A report released in January 2020 by the Maine State Fire Marshal's Office indicated a propane leak caused the explosion. That's because crews reportedly severed it when they were drilling posts into the ground near the building, about a week before the explosion happened.
As a response to the explosion, Rep. Seth Berry (D-Bowdoinham), the House chair of the legislature's energy, utilities, and technology committee, introduced L.D 1892, "An Act To Make Changes to the So-called Dig Safe Law." The purpose of this bill was to require that underground L.P. lines, like the one affected in Farmington that led to the explosion, be regulated in "dig safe" laws.
The bill passed unanimously in the Maine Legislature, and Gov. Janet Mills signed it into law on March 17, 2020. That's after the daughter of Capt. Michael Bell, the firefighter who passed away at the Farmington explosion, testified in favor of it.
Anyone planning to dig (even if it's just in their backyard) is required to call 8-1-1 to have someone come to identify the locations of any underground lines. Dig Safe prohibits digging around certain underground utility lines -- now, including L.P. lines.
Berry said the additional regulation is a small price to pay, especially since many locations in Maine have propane tanks that are much bigger than the one was at the LEAP facility. In those circumstances, an explosion could be even bigger and more fatal.
Berry did note that in Farmington's situation, the excavator did not call Dig Safe, so the new law may not have saved lives in that instance.
A lawsuit on behalf of firefighters involved in the deadly Farmington explosion was settled in October 2021, two years after the incident.
Six firefighters and the estate of Captain Michael Bell settled with C.N. Brown Company of South Paris and Techno Metal Post Maine of Manchester. No other details about the settlement were shared publicly.
The lawsuit claimed negligence by both companies. Bell was the only person killed in the September 2019 blast.
An investigation by the State Fire Marshal's Office found the explosion was caused by a gas line severed when posts were drilled into the ground, and the gas company's technician failed to do a required pressure check when refilling the emptied tank.
LEAP Incorporated, the organization that has just opened the building, was added to the lawsuit after it was filed.
There was agreement among the parties that the case be dismissed permanently and cannot be brought back to court.
Attorney Steven Silin of Berman and Simmons confirmed to NEWS CENTER Maine that a separate suit filed by the family of Larry Lord was settled in May 2021.
Lord, a maintenance man at LEAP Inc. who evacuated people from the facility after he smelled gas, suffered burns on over 85 percent of his body and was hospitalized for seven months following the explosion.