GHENT, W.Va. -- West Virginia Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis said he was mistaken and that there has not been a fifth death from Tueday's explosion at a gas station and convenience store in Ghent, reported the Associated Press.
He said Flat Top Little General store manager Donna Meadows, 45, of Cool Ridge, is still among the five people hospitalized in critical condition with burns and other injuries from the explosion.
Lewis released the names of the four people who were killed in the explosion, added a report by West Virginia Media. [image-nocss] The people who died were Frederick Allen Burroughs, 51, of Cool Ridge, a volunteer firefighter and Raleigh County building inspector; Craig Lawrence Dorsey, 24, of MacArthur, a volunteer firefighter and EMT; Jeffrey Lee Treadway, 21, of Beckley, and Glenn Ray Bennett, 44, of Beckley, who were both working on the propane tanks.
Five patients still remain in the hospital, the report said. Along with Meadows, they included Patricia Mullens, 37, of Flat Top, who worked at the Little General store; Joyce Walker, 63, of Odd, and Leta Farley, 41, of Flat Top, who both worked at the Godfather's Pizza inside the store; and Donnie Caldwell, 71, of Cool Ridge, who worked as a volunteer firefighter.
The blast occurred as emergency workers were investigating a report of a propane leak, Lewis said.
Seven nearby homes and an elementary school suffered minor damage. No injuries were reported at the school or the homes.
Lewis said store employees were working on an aboveground tank capable of holding 500 pounds of propane; however, that tank and the store's underground gasoline tanks did not explode, he said.
"It is our initial thought that the fumes entered into the building and had to have an ignition point," Lewis said. He said cold temperatures would have kept the gas close to the ground.
The store's parent company, Little General Inc., Beckley, would not offer comment to AP.
Governor Joe Manchin met privately with the victims' relatives at the Ghent Volunteer Fire Department.
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