Explosion at laundromat in NE Ocala injures four

A suspected gas leak explosion destroyed the Classic Laundromat in Northeast Ocala south of Skylark Plaza.

Home » News
Posted July 30, 2024 | By Andy Fillmore, [email protected] / Photos by Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette / Video Courtesy Ocala Fire Rescue

Four people were injured and at least two neighboring stores were significantly damaged Tuesday evening, July 30, when a suspected gas leak exploded in laundromat in a northeast Ocala shopping plaza.

Ocala Police Department officers responded around 6:18 p.m. to reports of the explosion at Classic Laundromat at 1423 N.E. 25th Ave, according to Sgt. William Christman.

Ashley Lopez, public information officer for Ocala Fire Rescue, said a deputy chief and two battalion chiefs responded to the scene.

Lopez said two of the injured persons were transported to a hospital for treatment, one on trauma alert. Two other injured persons were not transported for treatment.

Lopez said building and electrical officials were on the scene.

An OFR tower truck, one of multiple emergency vehicles dispatched, was used at one point to give a city of Ocala building inspector a look at the roof of the plaza.

Norma Cowan was working at Shell gas/Sunshine Food Mart 202 directly across the street from the laundromat when the explosion occurred. She was waiting on customers when she heard a “boom” and said, “the store shook (and the explosion) shook me.”

Cowan said she first thought a car had hit the store but when she ran outside, she saw the “laundromat engulfed in flames.”

A woman who sat across the street from the strip mall as fire fighters completed work identified herself as the owner of laundromat but declined an interview.

The Marion County Property Appraiser website lists the name of the strip mall as Hillside Plaza and states it was built in 1973. The website includes a list of tenants as of 2020, which shows the laundromat at the 1423 address and 1427 as Frailejon Venezuelan Food and Bakery and 1421 as Boost Mobile.

According to a press release from OFR, also responding to the scene were Ocala Electric Utilities, Ocala Water Resources, Ocala Building Department, Marion County Fire Rescue and TECO Gas.

The state fire marshal and OFR Inspectors are investigating, according to the press release.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Lopez issued a news release that said the two people who were transported to the hospital following the explosion were released on Tuesday night.

“The latent part of the investigation is focused on confirming eyewitness reports and reviewing the building’s structural updates and historic permits to identify the incident’s cause. The laundromat’s dryers were powered by natural gas. The commercial structure housing Classic Laundromat was built in 1973. A laundromat has occupied the current establishment since,” she noted in the release.

 

 

newspaper icon

Support community journalism

The first goal of the Ocala Gazette is to deliver trustworthy local journalism so corruption, misinformation and abuse are not hidden from the public or unchallenged.

We count on community support to continue this important work. Please donate or subscribe:

Subscribe