One year after the Miller Circle explosion in Harrisonburg

‘You never know what’s gonna happen,’ said one first responder

Sunday marked one year since the natural gas explosion in Harrisonburg.

Dispatchers on duty had to weather the chaos and direct first responders to the scene.

Christina Adams has been a dispatcher for several years and has never experienced anything quite like that morning.

As she reflects on it a year later, it reminds her how important her job is.

“It was maybe 30 seconds until all the 911 lines were ringing, literally all of them,” said Christina Adams, HRECC assistant supervisor. “It just for me cemented that this job is ever-changing and you never know what’s gonna happen, you can go from sitting around doing nothing having a nice meeting to... chaos.”

Adams says dispatchers feel more prepared should something similar ever happen again.