A shelter-in-place was ordered within two miles of Heron Drive and High Hill Road in Logan Township, New Jersey, after a building explosion. The incident took place on Wednesday.
“Fire Department Activity in Logan Township – First Responder personnel are on location on Heron Drive operating at a building explosion at this time. Request for residents/businesses within two mile radius of Heron Drive and High Hill Rd to shelter in place until further notice,” Gloucester County Emergency Management announced in a statement.
A resident shared what the explosion sounded like from their apartment. “Sounds like savita 617 heron blew up. Here is what it sounded like on my home camera,” they wrote.
People also shared visuals where a thick column of black smoke could be seen rising to the sky.
“We’re about 1/4 mile from the site. Was certain our building was coming down!,” the person wrote.
It remains unclear if anyone was injured in the incident or what caused it. A page on X providing alerts wrote “617 HERON DR | EXPLOSION AT THE LARGE INDUSTRIAL BUILDING FULLY COLLAPSED AND ON FIRE. 2 PATIENTS SEVERELY BURNED. REPORTS OF 1 MORE PATIENT POSSIBLY STILL INSIDE. HELICOPTERS UNABLE TO FLY DUE TO WEATHER. UNITS ASSESSING DAMAGE TO NEARBY STRUCTURES DUE TO THE DEBRIS AND EXPLOSION.” However, these claims could not be verified immediately.
Another picture on Facebook showed the fire visible from a distance.
Reactions to Logan Township explosion
One person described the experience of hearing the explosion. “Down the street from my house…it felt like someone crashed into my garage, my whole house shook! I thought it was an earthquake! Prayers to all involved,” they wrote.
Another added “My body shook I felt it! 24 min away from pilesgrove. It sound like a big explosion it was so loud.” Yet another said “I heard that and the whole house shook – I didn’t know what had happened.”
A person claiming to be in Glassboro also said they had heard it. The two places are about 15.5 miles apart. One person claiming to be from Sewell said they could hear it two. These two places are about 13.4 miles away. Another said they could feel it all the way in Barrington, which is around 18.9 miles off.
From more comments, it became clear that the blast could be heard at places within a 20 mile radius. A person from Deptford also said they heard it and it is about 14 miles away. The blast could even be heard from Pennsylvania apparently, as a person from Lester claimed on Facebook.
