Rescue crews sift through rubble after Durham explosion leaves 1 dead, 17 injured

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Durham Herald-Sun

DURHAM EXPLOSION
At least one person died and 17 more were hurt after a large downtown Durham explosion from a gas leak.



Rescue crews sift through rubble after Durham explosion leaves 1 dead, 17 injured
BY SIMONE JASPER, ZACHERY EANES, AND DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN
APRIL 10, 2019 10:25 AM, UPDATED 7 MINUTES AGO

Durham

Search-and-rescue teams are sifting through the rubble after an explosion Wednesday morning in downtown Durham left one person dead and 17 people injured, officials said.

Durham firefighters responded to a 911 call about an odor of gas in the 100 block of N. Duke St. at about 9:38 a.m. and then contacted Dominion Energy, Fire Chief Robert J. Zoldos II said. Crews had started evacuating five nearby buildings when the explosion happened at 10:07 a.m., he said.

Initially, city officials said the explosion happened because a contractor digging under a sidewalk near 115 N. Duke St. hit a 2-inch pipe. They said later they were investigating the cause of the leak.

"Until the investigation is complete, we don't know that's the source of the gas leak," said Bo Ferguson, a deputy city manager. The Durham County Fire Marshal is overseeing the investigation, he said.
....



Firefighters actively fight a building fire after a gas leak lead to an explosion in the Brightleaf area of Durham on Wednesday April 10, 2019. Julia Wall [e-mail]

Read more: https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/article226255170.html

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Hat tip, Fox News, running on the monitors outside {redacted's} office.
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There are many links on the splash page: https://www.heraldsun.com/ :

https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/article229065314.html

After Durham blast, people describe chaos and uncertainty: 'There was a lot of blood'
BY JOSH SHAFFER, DREW JACKSON, DAWN BAUMGARTNER VAUGHAN, AND TAMMY GRUBB
APRIL 10, 2019 12:03 PM

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https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/article229065324.html

Durham reacts: Explosion information and photos were shared across social media
BY BROOKE CAIN
APRIL 10, 2019 12:37 PM, UPDATED 2 MINUTES AGO

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https://www.heraldsun.com/news/local/article229069109.html

One of nation's best Porsche sports car collections was at site of Durham explosion
APRIL 10, 2019 02:34 PM

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Well, that does it for the paywall. Meanwhile:

Durham Explosion: One dead, at least 15 injured

https://www.youtube.com/watch?vmAIczBkkF4g

A gas explosion has occurred at 115 N. Duke St. Duke St. from Chapel Hill Rd. to Morgan St. is closed. AVOID the area.

Link to tweet

[flotsam]

1. Not just you

but all posters in all posts. Is it too much to ask "in what state?" ? You don't say and the article doesn't say. I suspect it's probably in the Carolinas...But I live in New Hampshire less than 25 miles from Durham NH and New Durham NH. At the link I get the name of a local newspaper but no mention of state. All posters need to identify location whether it's news or info-"It's snowing here" tells me nothing and "it's snowing in Portland" could mean Oregon or Maine. Don't just write a post-consider if it tells the reader what they need to know.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. I hear you; I really do, but: LBN rules say to use the headline exactly as it appears.

Are we allowed to edit it to give the name of the state? If so, I'll change it.

I know what you mean. My nightmare is a headline along the lines of "Springfield says 'no'."

Or is that....

My favorite headline for LBN would be one that said

"Springfield says 'no.'"

Uh, thanks. Which one? "No" to what?

[barbtries]

3. i have friends who work down there.

i texted one and she's okay but there was a person missing at her husband's work. I'm in CA at the moment.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Additional accounts:

https://twitter.com/abc11_wtvd

https://twitter.com/jasondebruyn

https://twitter.com/TheHerald_Sun

https://twitter.com/AlertDurham

https://twitter.com/newsobserver

https://twitter.com/WRAL

https://twitter.com/psncenergy

[barbtries]

5. thank you

I didn't get an alert on this for some reason. usually they text, email AND call both of my phones. but today i learned it from google news out of the blue.

[NCjack]

6. The location is Durham, North Carolina, USA. Brightleaf business area. nt

[csziggy]

7. From Google Street View the destroyed building had "Studebaker" on it

Durham's Studebaker Building: What We Know
By Spectrum News Staff
PUBLISHED 12:02 PM ET Apr. 10, 2019

<SNIP>

The building was reportedly originally erected in 1928 and is about 23,000 square feet. It originally included a showroom and repair garage.

According to opendurham.org, the dealership was only open about two years, it closed around 1930. After that it reportedly became Brown's Auto Supply on July 1, 1943 and remained an auto venue through the 1980s.

OpenDurham.org reports after that time it housed many businesses including Brunson's TV, Lane's Auto Supply, the Weeping Radish restaurant, and other restaurants into the 90s. It was renovated into office space for Ogilvy, an advertising agency, years later, but that ad agency was eventually replaced with ReverbNation, which has also since moved.

Today, the coffee shop Kaffeinate is located in the building, and is confirmed to be a location affected by the explosion. Employees with Kaffeinate have since reported that everyone is OK.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triangle-sandhills/news/2019/04/10/durham-s-studebaker-building--what-we-know

It's sad to see another piece of history destroyed.