Community Chat

[DiAnne]

I just saw the tail end of a blurb on CNN about a gas explosion near LA Fitness somewhere in Florida.  It looked horrible.  Has anyone seen this?

[Catty2]

It's in Plantation, FL west of Ft. Lauderdale.  I happened to see it on CNN when changing channels. 

[JaneMarple]

Explosion at Florida shopping center  Police and firefighters were responding Saturday to a gas explosion at a strip shopping mall in the South Florida city of Plantation, authorities said. Plantation Fire Rescue confirmed on Twitter that there are "multiple patients" from the incident. CNN affiliate WPLG reported that the explosion occurred at The Fountains mall in Plantation, near Fort Lauderdale.

[MorningLover]

Reporting at least 20 injured following gas explosion at South Florida shopping center, 2 are serious. 

FOX NEWS

[DearPrudence]

How awful!  Fox News says it was a vacant pizza restaurant.

[Q-Anu]

OMG... what next? 

Those poor souls suffering severe burns, or worse. 

Prayers going up for them. 🙏🏻

[colliemom4]

I read about it online but haven't seen anything about it on tv. It sounds terrible.

[LurkyLoo]

🙏😢🙏

Did they ever report on the cause of this yet, @JaneMarple? Another gasline explosion, perhaps? My local news never even mentioned this tragedy. 

I shall look for an update on the injured- such a terrible, shocking thing. 

[sidsmom]

@LurkyLoo 

I went poking around on Twitter.

Nothing yet, but found this reported yesterday (Tuesday):

Among those sent to the hospital was a child who had been at the neighboring LA Fitness. Gordon said all but one of those hospitalized have been released from treatment as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the state Fire Marshal’s office still hasn’t been able to plow through the rubble in search of evidence. Gordon said Tuesday that "it will be days before [they] can get into the structure to start digging.”

The reasons: "We have to shore it up and make sure it’s safe” and doesn’t collapse. Structural experts will need to OK the scene first, authorities said. And legally, authorities need the owner’s permission, he said.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or

954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash

[LurkyLoo]

Thank you very much for all the info, @sidsmom. Heartbreaking about the child- prayers for the family. Thank goodness all the others have been released from the hospital. They'll have emotional healing to go through, too, I'm sure. 

That all makes perfect sense on the ongoing investigation. I can only imagine the damages and risks. Sure want no further injuries- better to wait. 

Bless you for looking it up! I don’t have Twitter, but I understand it's the best source for news. 👍 I tried, but can't understand how it all works.