Jan. 26 (UPI) — The owner of Houston Corvette Service said that $1 million worth of Corvettes were trapped in two buildings flattened by a warehouse explosion that killed two people across the street.
Gordon Andrus, owner of the company, has two buildings across the street from the site of the blast, Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, a plastic manufacturing warehouse where two Watson employees were killed Friday.
Andrus said his buildings “are flattened.”
“It’s sitting there with about $1 million in cars right now,” he continued. “We restore old Corvettes, and it’s full of what used to be really nice cars.”
Andrus added that he is grateful no one was inside the buildings during the explosion, so no one was hurt.
John Watson, the owner of the plastics manufacturing warehouse, told KTRK-TV in Houston the explosion originated from a propylene tank, but Houston Fire Chief Samuel Pena said investigators aren’t yet sure what caused the blast.
KHOU-TV reporter Melissa Correa tweeted Saturday that police and fire officials were working “round the clock with investigators” to find out the cause of the explosion.
The blast radiated outward, smashing into nearby homes and businesses. It could be felt for miles around the Texas metropolitan area.
KHOU-TV video shows the damage to Andrus’ businesses near the site of the blast.
“We’re upset, but we’ll be up and running Monday, in another building,” Andrus said in the video. “We have a body shop and paint shop. We’ll move down there.”
TMS Auto repair in a nearby business strip was also damaged in the blast.
Business owners said they were fortunate the explosion did not occur when their shops were open.
