Dec. 18--Two explosions and a fire in the Ambriar Shopping Center Monday night backed up traffic on U.S. 29 and left Sweet Briar College without power briefly.
At about 7:30 p.m. Monday, emergency dispatchers received a call about the smell of propane at the shopping center.
Amherst Police Sgt. Greg Harler said police responded quickly, confirmed the smell of propane and evacuated the few customers left inside of the Dollar General and a nearby laundromat.
Just before 8 p.m., one of two 1,000 gallon above-ground propane tanks located in an alley between two shopping center buildings caught fire.
A minute later the second propane tank exploded, launching half of the tank through a nearby cinder-block wall into a dialysis center. Debris was sent 200 to 300 feet from the building.
A total of six businesses were damaged, with the bulk of the damage occurring to the dialysis center.
Amherst County Public Safety Director Gary Roakes said the cause of the fire is under investigation and his department does not know who owned the two tanks.
One firefighter sustained minor injuries, when he was thrown to the ground in the explosion.
Harler said all of the damage was to the back of the Ambriar Shopping Center, but the full extent and cost of the damage had yet to be determined.
Sweet Briar College notified all students, faculty and staff about the power outage with a campus-wide alert around 9:45 p.m.
Power was already being restored to several buildings by 11:20 p.m. Monday night.
Copyright 2012 - The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va.
