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Baltimore Gas and Electric investigating destructive Md. explosion

An explosion potentially caused by a gas leak seriously damaged a building in Columbia, Md., according to local emergency responders.

The Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services was alerted to a gas leak around 7 a.m. ET Aug. 25 and responded by evacuating everyone in area surrounding the commercial structure, the department said in a Facebook post. Shortly before 8 a.m. ET, "an explosion occurred inside the building causing significant structural damage," the post said, noting that there were no injuries reported as a result of the explosion.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. turned off gas in the area Aug. 25 and on Aug. 26 said in a Twitter post that the company had finished inspecting local gas mains and nearby buildings. The company did not find "any issues with the gas equipment," the utility wrote, adding that gas and electric service to the affected building remained off.

"Additionally, our records do not indicate any recent reports of gas odors from the location or in the past year. As recently as July 2019 we performed a scheduled inspection of the gas main and equipment serving this area and found no issues," the utility said. "We are continuing to work closely with investigators to understand the cause of the incident."

Baltimore Gas is Maryland's largest natural gas and electric utility providing service to more than 1.25 million electric customers and more than 650,000 natural gas customers.