Loud Explosion Heard Friday Night in Leesburg

On Friday night in Leesburg Virginia, a loud noise and flash of light were heard. A Maryland resident claimed to have seen a lightning strike.

Around 10:50 pm, reports came in from central Leesburg.

Laura Rinehart confirmed to WTOP, the public information officer for Loudoun County Fire and Rescue that this was not a natural gas explosion. She said that the police, fire department, and Dominion Energy officials who went to the scene saw no flames or smoke.

Dominion Energy’s spokesperson told WTOP, too, that the Regional Operations Center of the company had not received any reports from its servicemen.

It is not clear what caused the loud sound. The investigation is still ongoing by emergency personnel.

Many listeners said that the sound was loud and shook them or that they heard a “whooshing sound”. The light flash was visible from Sterling, Purcellville, and Poolesville in Maryland.

Ellen Byrne told WTOP she was at home, just outside Brunswick in Maryland, near Leesburg. She saw a flash of light, followed by a loud boom.

Byrne stated that the thunder created by the lightning struck sounded as if something had exploded. It seemed to strike the side of our home and take out everything directly wired to cable, which resulted in a loss of Internet access.

She and her husband both said they were lucky, as neither of them found any telltale signs.

It was strange that there was no lightning before or after the storm and I didn’t hear any thunder in the distance. Byrne stated that the lightning “came out of nowhere”.

Email the Leesburg City Council at: council@leesburgva.gov,
Mayor Kelly Burk — kburk@leesburgva.gov,
Vice Mayor Todd Cimino-Johnson — tciminojohnson@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Zach Cummings — zcummings@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Nicholas Krukowski — nkrukowski@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Kari Nacy — knacy@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Neil Steinberg — nsteinberg@leesburgva.gov,
Council Member Patrick Wilt — pwilt@leesburgva.gov,