Main Street on lockdown after underground explosion

The area around Main and Barbados streets was cordoned off for several blocks in every direction today after a 911 call by a employee at 2:33 p.m. reporting an odor of smoke brought police and fire departments to the scene to investigate.

According to Norristown Fire Chief Tom O'Donnell, firemen detected high levels of carbon monoxide in the building along with smoke. Measures were immediately taken to evacuate the building and the surrounding businesses and cordon off the area.

A series of underground explosions nearly an hour later caused fire and police officials to push the cordon back several blocks. No one was injured during the incident, but the front of the thrift store and another building were damaged.

Many businesses in the area were unaffected by the emergency as the inclement weather had kept some stores closed. Emergency services had to force entry to several buildings to secure the area.

“It seems that the weather may have played an important factor since they were closed due to the inclement weather this morning," said O'Donnell. "It may have been a godsend in many ways.”

Police, fire, ambulance and rescue crews are all still on the scene in Norristown and will remain in place until PECO deems the area is safe to inhabit.

Keep checking Norristown Patch for more on this story as information becomes available.