Wilmington Explosion and Fire – August 19, 2025

Screen grabs from Ian Cross footage via WECT.

Last updated: August 29, 2025

Introduction

On Tuesday, August 19, 2025, in Wilmington, NC, an impaired drive struck and damaged a gas meter and high-pressure line beside a commercial building that was being renovated for veterinary hospital. The vehicle left the scene. The hospital was planning to open next month.

Some 20 or 30 minutes after fire units arrived at the scene of the active gas leak, the building exploded and injured five firefighters, including one severely. They were inside the building conducting a primary search. They were monitoring the gas levels as they searched and they detected a dangerous concentration just seconds before the explosion.

All five were injured in the blast and emergency evacuation. One firefighter suffered second- and third-degree burns to their hands and was transferred to the burn center in Chapel Hill.

Here are narrative notes and more about the incident, drawn from news articles, the press conference, and other sources.

Incident Timeline

Around 11:00 a.m., a vehicle turning onto New Centre Drive left the roadway and struck the side of an office building at 5051 New Centre Drive. It struck the front right corner, where the gas meter and a high-pressure natural gas line were connected to the building. They were about 30 feet from the roadway. The vehicle left the scene.

Around 11:10 a.m. (?), Wilmington Engine 3 was dispatched to the vehicle versus building, with the single-company response type of Fire Incident. This is a generic call type that expedites dispatch of a unit while additional details are received by the dispatcher and the call coding is completed.

The location was first-due for Engine 8, but they were on another call. Engine 3 responded, and were operating a reserve engine.

As details of a reported gas leak were added to the call, Battalion 1—who was listening on the radio—requested that a truck company be added. The dispatcher replied that Truck 8, Squad 3, and Safety 2 had each already added themselves.

First-Arriving Units

Safety 2 was first-arriving and established command. He reported that there was an active gas leak from a damaged gas line and requested that the gas company be contacted. With the confirmation of an active gas leak, Battalion 1 added himself to the call.

Engine 3 was directed to stretch a protective line to the gas meter. Truck 8 was directed to block New Centre Drive. Squad 3 was directed to also help block New Centre Drive. And by this time, police had been requested to respond, to also help with traffic control.

Five firefighters from Truck 8 and Squad 3 entered the building to perform a primary search and evacuate any occupants.[1]

[1] When the first fire units arrived, they found construction workers at the site. The workers informed them of the “hissing” gas leak, but said nothing about whether or not people were inside the building. There were cars in the parking lot, however.

Battalion 1 arrived around this time and took command. Engine 3 was asked if they had a water supply. Engine 3 answered negative. Command requested an additional engine company, which added New Hanover County Engine 17 to the call. When they arrived, they were directed to lay a dry line to Engine 3.

Close view of gas line three days after the incident. Legeros photo, see more in this gallery.

Warning of Danger, Then the Explosion

Squad 3 then contacted Command. They had detected 90% concentration inside the building.[2] Before Command could reply, Safety 2 radioed that there was fire through the roof. Then the explosion occurred. The time was around 11:30 a.m.

[2] This corrects prior reports that the mayday was issued prior to the explosion.

The resulting explosion blew debris straight up and away from the building. Fire also shot horizontally out of the front of the building and across New Centre.

At the time of the explosion, the five firefighters were on the second floor in hallways, as they were clearing rooms.

Screengrab from Kirk Rogers video from ABC news.

Maydays Issued

Squad 3 issued the first mayday. After their transmission ended, Truck 8 issued a second mayday.

Command then asked dispatch for a full alarm. This “filled the box” to add the units missing, had the call been originally dispatched as a full alarm assignment. (Which was 3 or 4 engines, 2 trucks, 1 rescue, 2 squads, 1 battalion chief, and safety.)

Command acknowledged the mayday and asked if any firefighters were trapped. They were not. He asked if they were all together. Yes they were together. He told them that if they couldn’t get out of the building using the stairwell to go to the windows and he would have a ladder brought to the window.

The five firefighters found a second-floor window on the bravo side of the building. Safety 2 observed them and directed the ground ladder to that location.

About that time Engine 8 arrived and was directed to perform RIT duties, including helping the firefighters evacuate.

Screengrab from Stanley Waldrip video from ABC news.

Escaped by Ground Ladder

The ground ladder was placed at the window. The five firefighters rapidly evacuated the building and down the ladder. Two firefighters suffered injuries as they rapidly descended the ladder. Three other firefighters had been injured in the explosion, including one with second- and third-degree burns to his hands.

By that time an EMS supervisor had arrived at the scene and reported to Battalion 1, who requested two ambulances to the scene.

Three firefighters were initially transported by EMS. Later, two more were transported. And after the five had been transported, another ambulance stood by at the scene, for the remainder of the incident.

After the five firefighters were out of the building, the mayday was cleared. After there was a break in the radio traffic, Command requested a second alarm.

Suppression, Exposures, Hazards

After the explosion, fire suppression efforts directed by command included:

Engine 3 to charge the hand line and spray the gas meter. The hand line was later changed to an unmanned blitz monitor.
Engine 3 to charge their deck gun and spray the roof line.
Truck 8 to move up to the A/D corner and set-up for aerial operations.
Next arriving engine to supply Truck 8 with water.
Truck 1 upon arriving to the C/B corner, to begin flowing.
Truck 7 on the second alarm to the Delta side, to begin flowing.

In the rear of the building was a tractor-drawn MRI trailer that needed exposure protection. It was powered by a large diesel generator, and power could not be interrupted to the MRI trailer, which would otherwise result in a dangerous catastrophic failure. There was also burning debris in the rear of the building.

Other hazards inside the building included an oxygen generator and three oxygen tanks on the second floor, as well as nitrogen tanks. They were located in the same corner of the building as where the gas line was struck. It was later reported that the oxygen tanks further fueled the fire.

But the main problem was the ruptured gas line, which was feeding the fire in the A/D corner of the building.

Front of the fire building, three days after the incident. Legeros photo, see more in this gallery.

Later Actions

Level two staging was enacted for the second-alarm units. As companies arrived, their personnel were moved inside the Wilmington Police Department mobile command unit, which was parked at the entrance to Lowes. This kept the crews cooled inside the air-conditioning.

EMS brought their mobile ambulance bus to the scene, which was used as a rehab center.

Battalion 2 arrived and was initially assigned to the B/C corner. Chief 3 and the Logistics Officer later arrived and further assisted command.

Two haz-mat teams responded, from the gas company and the fire department. They worked together to shut off the gas, with firefighters performing the shut-off actions.

The gas was shut off after an hour or two.

Photo from /r/Wilmington, posted by /u/sodapressingimdiying

Controlled and Extinguished

The fire was controlled at [goes here].

Once controlled, the MRI trailer’s diesel generator was isolated from the building’s electrical grid.

Once controlled, Rescue 2, the WFD technical rescue team, entered the building with Engine 5 and Squad 5 on a hose line to assess structural stability.

As sections of the building were determined to be stable, crews attacked a couple of hot spots inside the structure. An exterior aerial stream also assisted.

About seven hours later, command was terminated after the fire was marked as extinguished and units had demobilized.

Wilmington Fire Department photo