An explosion rocked downtown Akron on Tuesday afternoon, shattering windows in a nearby building. The incident occurred around 4:40 p.m. near the intersection of E. Mill and S. High Street, sending glass from the second-floor windows crashing to the ground. FOX8 reported that the explosion originated from an underground utility vault with electrical equipment, which caused the windows at El Patron Mexican Restaurant to break due to the pressure.
According to Signal Akron, Bianka Escudero, who was at the host stand during the explosion, witnessed fire coming from the street and felt the heat from the flames. "If that glass would've broke, I probably wouldn't have been here today," Escudero said, underscoring the potential danger posed by the blast. Escudero and her husband, Luis, are owners of the Akron restaurant, which was impacted by the explosion.
Officials from the Akron Fire Department quickly responded, extinguishing smoldering materials and assessing the Gothic Building for structural damage. This early 1900s building, which houses the restaurant, a law firm, and apartments, was thankfully spared from more severe damage. Cleveland19 quoted firefighter Robert Langston stating that there was no structural damage found in the aftermath. Ohio Edison crews were dispatched to the scene to access and address the damaged utility vault.
Luis Escudero thought that an Ohio Edison transformer, likely damaged, was the cause of the incident. He saw debris and glass and ran inside to ensure nothing internal was compromised. "It was just that Ohio Edison infrastructure that caught fire, exploded, just scared the crap out of everybody," Luis Escudero told Signal Akron. Despite the chaos, no injuries were reported, and the restaurant did not close for the night, with Bianka Escudero evacuating patrons to the back of El Patron.
