Photo by: Cassie Reed
Firefighters responded to an explosion in an Ocala shopping plaza that houses several restaurants and a laundromat.
Multiple crews with Ocala Fire Rescue arrived at the scene near NE 14th St and NE 25th Ave. early Tuesday evening. Initial reports indicated an explosion occurred at the Classic Laundromat & Dry Cleaners, injuring four people, one of whom was transported as a trauma alert.
A woman working nearby at a gas station said she was assisting a customer when they heard a loud “boom” from across the street.
“I was standing there waiting on a customer, and I heard a loud boom. I mean, it was really booming, and the whole store was shaking,” explained Norma Conwan, a Shell employee, “and I started shaking, and I was like, ‘What happened? What just happened?’”
She and the customer went outside to survey the damage from afar.
“We’d never seen anything like that before in our entire life,” Conwan added. “Everything was up in smoke over there.”
Another woman who lives close to the area, Cassie Reed, said, “It felt like my house exploded,” adding that her whole house shook.
Crews from Marion County Fire Rescue, the Ocala Police Department, Ocala Electric Utility, and TECO Gas Company assist Ocala Fire Rescue.
Traffic on NE 25th Ave. is currently blocked at NE 14th St. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, but authorities said it appears to point to a “gas incident.”
This is a developing story. FOX 35 has a crew headed to the scene. Check back for updates.
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Source: Fox35Orlando
