Royal Oak house explosion damages nearby businesses

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WXYZ) - The deadly Royal Oak house explosion damaged several businesses along Woodward Avenue but some hope to re-open in the morning.

A manager at Runaway Brides frantically called her boss when she heard the blast and the windows shattered.  The shop is across the alley from where the house exploded.

“I came up and I saw police cars, fire trucks, and flashing lights,” said Brittany Blase the owner of the store.  She also saw a lot of broken glass in the front windows.

“From the pictures it looked a lot worse, you see a lot of spider web cracking and paint peeling from the ceiling,” said Blase.

Contractors boarded up a couple of the windows and their next task was to check out the roof to make sure it was not damaged.  If there is damage to the roof it could cause a delay in re-opening.

The same issue faced the Golden Basket Restaurant a few businesses away.  The restaurant sits about 150 yards from where the house exploded.

“Unbelievable,” said Wally Mansour.  The cook had been inside the restaurant when he said it sounded like a bomb went off.  They had about 10-15 customers inside eating when the building shook.

“I ran inside to make sure everyone got out.  All my customers.  Everybody safe out.  Nobody got hurt,” said the owner Dino Loucopolous.  So far they estimate their damage to be a few broken windows and a door.

The restaurant and bridal shop are two of at least five businesses along Woodward that had physical damages from the blast.

Contractors will be working through the night to get the shops cleaned up and to make sure they are stable so that they can re-open in the morning .