COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A gas leak and explosion destroyed a Domino’s restaurant in west Columbus and damaged nearby homes and businesses.
Fire crews quickly pulled a second-alarm after a gas leak was reported in the 2800 block of West Broad Street. The fire was contained after about two hours.
Officials on scene say Columbus-based Team Fishel was doing underground boring in the parking lot area by the Domino’s Pizza and struck a gas line. The ovens in the Domino’s ignited the gas. Everyone evacuated the Domino’s building when they smelled the gas.
Team Fishel released the following statement on Wednesday night:
While performing work at 2857 W. Broad Street in Columbus earlier this afternoon, a Team Fishel crew struck a gas line. The incident resulted in an explosion which impacted a number of local business and residents in the area. Our Teammates responded appropriately and aided in a swift evacuation of the area. We are thankful that there were no serious injuries reported. Our focus right now is on the safety of everyone impacted by this unfortunate incident. Team Fishel is on site working in collaboration with authorities to determine the cause of the incident.
All patients at the nearby Nationwide Children’s Hospital primary care hospital are safe, according to a representative from the hospital.
“Because of the gas leak initially everything in the area had been evacuated, so at the time of the explosion everyone was away from the building,” said Columbus Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin. “We’ve got an evacuation distance right now of one block in every direction of the situation. People that are in their homes can shelter in place if they are inside that area, but outside we ask that people stay away.”
At least one person is injured, a person who was running away from the scene and tripped.
Battalion Chief Steve Martin said firefighters were working to protect the buildings in the area as the fire still raged. He said the gas underneath the ground could be seeping into other buildings. The gas was shut off just after 4:30pm.
Shannon Kelley, a delivery driver for Domino’s, said he was on his way to another job when someone called him and said there was an explosion in the area.
“They said if there’s anybody in there, they’re dead so I come over here thinking-I don’t know what I was thinking. .. I’ve been at Dominos 24 years,” he said.
“I don’t know if they’re going to rebuild or what that’s what I’m getting ready to talk to the district supervisor about. See if they’re going to put us at another location. This is always nice right before Christmas,” Kelley said.
Witnesses nearby heard the explosion. Some homes were even damaged by the blast.
“My neighbor’s windows are knocked out,” said Tila Fields. “They won’t let me in. I know all my belongings that were on the wall are on the floor now because that happened while we were in there.”
Fields said she got her children and her mother into the car and to a relative’s house to keep them safe.
Neighbor John Barker said he thought his 65-gallon fish tank was going to fall over.
“It looked like someone just grabbed it and shook it,” he said.
“We have all these old gas lines and there’s all this work around here, it’s just a matter of time before stuff happens.”
Nick Reese, president of Buckeye Ranch, owns the strip of building involved in the fire.
“We were very concerned about any staff or children, fortunately no one was hurt,” he said. “We are just in the process of what happened and waiting for the fire department to put the fire out.
“We’ve been here since 2007 and we’ve never had an issue like this,” he continued. “It’s overwhelming. Fortunately, we’re insured, and we have great staff and everyone reacted immediately.”PHOTOS: Gas leak & explosion in west Columbus
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