The Maine Department of Labor has fined the town of Farmington in connection with the fatal explosion on Sept. 16, 2019, at the LEAP Inc. building in Farmington. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
FARMINGTON — The town must pay more than $22,000 in fines for failing to ensure firefighters had proper training and equipment when they investigated a propane leak that caused a deadly explosion last year.
The Farmington explosion destroyed the nonprofit group LEAP Inc. building, killed Farmington fire Capt. Michael Bell and injured seven other people. The Maine Department of Labor has issued preliminary findings about the blast, the Bangor Daily News reported.
The state found that firefighters “did not don self-contained breathing apparatus,” among other problems, the department said.
Farmington Town Manager Richard Davis told the Daily News the town does not dispute the citations, has corrected the violations and plans to ask for lesser fines.
A severed gas line caused the explosion on Sept. 16, 2019.
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