FORESTVILLE, Md. - Prince George's County firefighters are recalling the harrowing moments before, during and after a massive natural gas explosion at a Forestville strip mall, an experience they call humbling.

Firefighters and EMS responded to the report of a gas leak at the Penn Mar shopping center in Forestville just before 1 p.m. Thursday. Firefighters respond to hundreds of such calls each year, they said. But this one was different. 

"Firefighters could tell when they first got here, they could tell by the odor they were dealing with something a little bit more heavier than they usually deal with, with natural gas," explained Mark Brady of the Prince George's County fire department.

Once on the scene, emergency responders evacuated 45 people from the five occupied stores in the mall. The sixth location, which was vacant, turned out to be the source of the gas leak. As Washington Gas attempted to turn it off, just before 1:20 p.m., someone spotted a fire inside the store.

Less than a minute later, the shopping center exploded.

» listen to the mayday call

"Mayday mayday mayday," called Battalion Chief Kenny McSwain into his radio. At the time, his first instinct was check on his firefighters. Eight firefighters and a Washington Gas worker were injured. All had been released from the hospital by Friday afternoon. Then McSwain had time to reflect.

"Yesterday, when I first saw it, it really didn't hit as hard," McSwain recalled. "When I woke up this morning I probably watched the film about thirty times."

The tape shows what happened as the gas ignited, shattering large plate glass windows and sending the shards of glass and other debris 60 to 70 feet into the front parking lot. It appears that the roof assembly was lifted off the building by the blast and then fell back down, and the rear brick and block wall was blown out completely.

McSwain says he actually recalls hearing the gas ignite.

"It's a very distinct sound that you don't want to hear, like, whoup. Then when I turned and looked to the side, I saw the glass on the front of the building being sucked in," he recalled. "That's when it blew."

Firefighter Balemcis is one of the two firefighters pictured walking toward the imminent explosion. You can see the blast envelop them.

If you look carefully at the tape you'll see firefighter Grady Balemcis walking toward the imminent explosion. He turns away, seemingly as the explosion reaches out toward him. It knocked him down, but he says he was lucky -- he, too, saw it coming.

"I heard the initial ignition of the gas in the attic space and then was able to see it coming," Balemcis said. "And then a split second later just turn away from it and the blast took out the windows and window frames and door frames."

All the firefighters say they've watched the video over and over again. They've all come to the same conclusion: they're lucky to be alive.

"I've had several of those 'Oh my God' moments," said Battalion Chief McSwain.

"It's amazing and I just feel really, really fortunate that my crew here is intact," added Firefighter Balemcis.

The extent of the damage to the structure left observers marveling that everyone at the site survived. Three firefighters were inside the building when it exploded, but incredibly only one was hurt. The others saw the blast coming and dove for the ground, while the third escaped with second-degree burns.

In all, eight firefighters and a Washington worker were injured in the explosion. Two firefighters, Greg Powell and Capt. Robert Rouse, remained hospitalized Friday evening. Both were listed in stable condition.

Thanks to the quick evacuation of the building, none of the 45 people who had been in the mall were hurt. "We would not have been out. They made sure we got out," said dentist Calvin Chambers, who was rushed out of his office by emergency responders.

"I was explaining to my employees, don't be upset -- we're alive," said Mohammed Siddique, owner of a pizza shop located in the strip mall. "The business is gone [but] we'll be back here again."

The exact cause of the release of natural gas and the source of ignition remain under investigation. ABC 7 has learned that a third party, possibly another utility company, may have interfered with the gas line.

Prince George's County Acting Fire Chief Eugene A. Jones arrived on the scene and surveyed the devastation and remarked, "As a Department we are thankful that the injuries our crews suffered are recoverable. As a community, we are fortunate that 45 lives were saved by firefighters doing their jobs. Overall, in consideration of the devastating destruction we are extremely fortunate that this was not a disaster."

Damage to the 6 stores is estimated at $2.5 million.

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