Medical conditions, building status: The latest on the NE Ocala laundromat explosion
The two people who were hospitalized Tuesday evening after an explosion at a northeast Ocala laundromat have been released, according to a relative and friend of the victims.
Marilyn Vega Ortiz told a Star Banner reporter on Wednesday that her daughter and the daughter's boyfriend were discharged from HCA Florida Ocala Hospital earlier in the day.
She said her daughter had burns on her upper body and cuts on her body. Ortiz said her daughter's boyfriend also had cuts and burns on his body. She said both are doing fine.
Both victims, along with Ortiz, were inside Classic Laundry, 1423 NE 25th Ave., just after 6 p.m. Tuesday when the explosion occurred. Ortiz said her daughter and the woman's boyfriend were injured while helping her. Ortiz was not taken to the hospital, despite a burn on her right hand and bruises on her body.
For her, she said, aside from being emotional and having some body aches, she's doing OK.
About the explosion
Ortiz said she, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend were inside the building when the explosion happened. She said she smelled gas while doing laundry. She told a nearby store employee and returned to the laundry to finish washing her clothes. She said she put her clothes in the dryer. When she started the dryer, the explosion happened.
Before the explosion, Ortiz said, she opened the front and back doors to ventilate the building.
Ocala fire officials said "The laundromat’s dryers were powered by natural gas," and "The commercial structure housing Classic Laundromat was built in 1973. A laundromat has occupied the current establishment since."
Several businesses in the strip mall, near the Northeast 25th Avenue/Northeast 14th Street intersection, are closed due to damages. Ocala city officials have discontinued essential services to the affected buildings, such as electricity and water, according to fire officials. Those same officials said four people were in the building at the time of the explosion. Two of the four were taken to the hospital for treatment.
At least four businesses have gas supplied to them, officials said. A spokeswoman for TECO Peoples Gas confirmed her company is the natural gas provider to the location. TECO was one of several agencies that responded to the location after the explosion. On Wednesday, the TECO spokesperson said: "We have no other information at this time. We’re working through Ocala Fire Rescue as they are leading the investigation."
The original story: Explosion destroys NE Ocala laundromat. Three people injured.
State and local officials are investigating the explosion.
Ortiz said clothes belonging to her, her daughter and daughter's boyfriend are a total loss. Her car, parked at the front of the building at the time of the explosion, had some damage. She was able to drive it to the hospital on Tuesday to visit her daughter and daughter's boyfriend Tuesday night.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Laundromat explosion in NE Ocala, Florida: The latest details
