Officials, businesses react to New Centre Drive explosion that destroyed veterinary hospital

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A massive explosion at the Eastern Carolina Veterinary Medical Center rocked New Centre Drive Tuesday morning.

Firefighters had been responding to a gas leak inside the building when it exploded.

Wilmington Fire Chief Steve Mason said 5 firefighters were injured: 2 suffered concussions, 1 broke an ankle, and a 4th was transported to the UNC Burn Clinic at Chapel Hill for severe 2nd and 3rd degree burns to his hands. 1 was found to be injured later.

Mason said it’s a situation no chief ever wants to have to deal with.

“We heard the mayday call come in and those are the worst words that a fire chief can hear,” Mason said. “Hearing all those things, again, that’s the worst, that’s the worst thing I can hear come over the radio. And your mind just goes crazy that you’re wondering, you know, who is it and how many and can we get them out in time?”

Veterinary hospital administrator Gary Walker said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he arrived at the scene.

“It was like this can’t be happening,’ Walker said. “We’ve put a lot of work into this project; it’s about a 4-year project that we were just wrapping up. And then coming up to it and seeing the smoke and seeing the fire department and the debris all over the road was just surreal.”

The explosion rocked many nearby businesses along New Centre Drive.

Bob King GMC had debris like insulation foam and pieces of the building’s roof lying on the ground throughout its lot.

Debris fell several hundred feet away, ending up in the parking lots of other businesses like Case Encanto.

Luis Marez, a manager at Casa Encanto, said the explosion shook the building.

“We heard a big explosion, everything in the kitchen was falling down, it was very, very loud explosion,” Marez said. “So then we start looking fire on the side of the road.”

Willett said despite the injuries, this incident showed how well the city, county and other organizations work well together.

“Watching these men and women of the fire department work and do their thing,” Willett said. “There was no confusion, there was no chaos. They were taking care of business and that’s no different than I’ve experienced with Wilmington Fire Department. And WPD and WFD have always worked so seamlessly together, this is really a proud moment for public safety for the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County.”

WFD public information officer Rebekah Thurston confirmed that 3 of the injured firefighters have been released from the hospital.