The cleanup efforts have begun in Berwyn, Ill., as investigators look into a large explosion that demolished a gas station and impacted nearby residences and businesses.
Cellphone video captured the devastation mere moments after the gas station exploded.
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It happened in the western suburb around 3:45 p.m. Thursday in the 6700-block of Ogden Avenue.
Emergency services were already present in the area addressing multiple downed power lines, a result of the thunderstorms passing through.
That’s when two main gas lines at the gas station ignited.
Berwyn Fire Chief Kris Coniglio explained that a power line striking concrete ignited a gas main beneath an alley, sparking a fire behind the BP and extending to a nearby cleaners about a block away.
Minutes later they exploded without warning, leveling the gas station and damaging nearby homes and businesses.
The force of the blast was so strong that it shattered the windows of Novi’s Beef, a restaurant across the street, and other buildings nearby.
“The roof shot about two-three hundred feet in the air and then it just came down,” Novi’s Beef manager Tom Zednik said. “It just shook us and thank God we have double pane glass, because our windows shattered instantly.”
Other witnesses also described the scary situation.
“It started off as a small little fire behind the gas station. Everyone got out, that I saw,” witness Michelle Donnamario said. “They were evacuating the house, right there, and then I turned around and went inside then the huge boom. And my neighbors said it looked like a nuke went off.”
Ben Ceyer and his workers at his Weimer Machine watched as firefighters contained the two fires while evacuating nearby homes and two employees and a customer from the gas station.
“The thing is God was watching all of us because as far as I know there were no fatalities, there are no injuries,” Ceyer said. “Even though we got hit with the debris, myself, my son and my employees, because we are all out there watching this and nobody got hurt.
It’s expected there’ll be more cleanup Friday as the neighborhood as the investigation into incident continues.
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