Witnesses describe explosion, fire at Victory Brewing in Kennett Square, Pa.
KENNETT SQUARE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Pieces of brick, glass and metal were still piled up in the parking lot of Victory Brewing Company nearly 12 hours after what witnesses described as an explosion.
The building, in the 600 block of West Cyprus Street in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, also houses Magnolia Place Apartments.
Some residents were home when a bang sounded and fire erupted around 6:30 p.m. Monday.
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"All of a sudden the building splits open, and a fireball shoots out of the corner," said resident Zach Hansen.
Firefighters quickly evacuated everyone from the building.
No one was inside Victory Brewing, since the taproom was closed at the time of the incident. The inside of the taproom appeared to be largely in-tact.
The Red Cross offered assistance to residents who weren't allowed to stay the night in their apartments.
Firefighters continued to investigate a cause.
Some wonder whether a ruptured gas line is to blame.
Officials have not said if that was the case nor have they confirmed that an actual explosion occurred.
The morning after the fire, curious neighbors came to see the damage, thankful that no one was hurt.
"It's very tragic, and it's unfortunate that it happened," said Hayden Blomgren of Avondale, Pa. "I hope they can reconstruct it fairly quickly so Victory isn't affected."
Victory Brewing Company's released the following statement Monday:
"Tonight, around 6:30PM there was an explosion and fire in the 600 block of (West Cypress Street) in the building where the Victory Brewing Company - Kennett Square taproom is located. Our taproom was closed for business today, so no customers or team members were in the building at the time of the incident. We now have a team on site and are working with the fire and police departments to gather information around this unfortunate incident. We are not aware of any injuries that were uncovered during the initial investigation. We will continue to work with authorities and with the Red Cross to learn more about what occurred this evening and how we can help our neighbors in the building who have been displaced. For now, we are praying for the safety of those involved and want to thank the first responders who quickly arrived on site, safely aided in the evacuation of the building and are working to control the fire."
