Community transforms site of Sterling house explosion tragedy into Firefighter Brown Memorial Park

STERLING, Va. (DC News Now) — There’s a new park in Northern Virginia to honor a volunteer firefighter killed during a home explosion last year.

On Monday, a jury in Loudon County convicted a propane service manager of involuntary manslaughter.

The blast leveled the home. But now the community has turned the place of tragedy into a site of healing.

February 16, 2024, was a tragic day on Silver Ridge Drive. Sterling volunteer firefighter Trevor Brown lost his life after a home exploded.

“He was a really good guy. He was a good firefighter. And he was a good father, a good family man. And he’s really just a good member of the community,” said David Short, past chief of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company.

Short said Brown was more than a firefighter. He was a friend.

Short said Monday’s guilty verdict of a propane service manager doesn’t erase the profound loss, but it’s a step.

“We were relieved to get a verdict. And it was really important to the healing process,” Short said.

To keep his memory alive, the community has come together to turn the tragic site where the house explosion happened into the Firefighter Brown Memorial Park. It’s opening on his birthday this Saturday, July 26.

It’s a space that has beautiful flowers and benches to sit. The biggest focal point is a boulder.

“That’s where Trevor was removed from the property, and that’s where he lost his life. And so that, to me, is the most important part of the park,” said Kris Hjort. “It signifies also his strength and his commitment to the community and giving back and being a first responder.”

Hjort owns K&H Landscape and Grounds Maintenance, which designed and installed the park. Hjort is also part of the committee that made the park happen.

“I live about five miles away, so I felt the blast that night. We were in our family room, and my wife and I heard it, and we knew something bad had happened,” Hjort said.

People from near and far feel the need to honor the fallen.

“Having the community do this on their own without any prodding from the county or from the organization, that the community took on this initiative on their own, it’s just remarkable. And it really feels good to know you got that support for the community,” Short said.

“The importance of having this park here is for the community to come and the neighbors to come and walk the park, sit on a bench, reflect, think about what was here and what’s here now. And hopefully it brings better memories and what they’re used to,” Hjort said.