Downtown explosions cause businesses to close, apartments to evacuate

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) –12 small businesses are still without power Friday morning, after an early morning underground fire that caused multiple explosions Thursday.

IPL shut power off to a 4-6 block radius around the affected area, and that initially meant dozens of people who live in a downtown apartment complex had to leave their home, and several businesses were forced to close.

As of Friday morning, IPL said 12 small commercial businesses remain without power. They’d let the businesses know via phone it could take through the weekend to get power restored there. All other customers, IPL said, have power as of Friday morning, some with a generator IPL supplied. Senate Manor apartment complex also had power restored by Thursday evening and residents were allowed back inside.

IPL crews spent the night working, and brought in those portable generators to help many customers.

Thursday afternoon, though, at Deering Clearers, the usual whirring sound of clothing racks was absent. It was replaced by silence and the occasional confused customer.

The early morning explosion happened right outside the business’ doors, knocking out power. But the owners decided even without lights and computers, they’d open for business.

They just had to switch to the old school method of paper and a pen.

“It’s a little slower, but we can do it,” Director of Operations John Knight said, “We have the occasional power outage so we know how to do it.”

Other businesses nearby stayed closed for the day.

Student Leighton Johnson was surprised to find his favorite coffee shop with a closed sign on the door.

“It’s an inconvenience and hopefully as soon as the businesses can get back up students can start coming around and using the resources again,” he said.

The power outage also affected dozens of Senate Manor apartment residents who had to evacuate.

Ron Michael lives across the street.

“I had just woken up about five minutes earlier when I heard a really big crack,” Michael said.

The Senate Manor building lost power and had a carbon monoxide leak from the blast’s impact.

But health officials had that under control by the afternoon and power followed shortly.

IPL ended up putting the apartments on backup generators so they could get the caution tape down and get people back into their apartments before the night fell.

Though Michael’s apartment was not affected, he said that as a downtown resident, the string of recent explosions gives him a sense of uneasiness moving forward.

The Red Cross was on hand for residents of Senate Manor apartments.

Luckily none of them needed shelter because their building was cleared by dinner time Thursday.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has called an emergency meeting for 10:30 Friday morning to discuss the underground network and infrastructure with IPL.