Neighbors react to explosion in Harrisonburg Saturday morning

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - On Saturday, Oct. 17th around 8:30 a.m. there was an explosion on South Main Street in Harrisonburg. Those living nearby say the blast was jarring.

“I knew it was a blow up, I could just tell. I could feel it,” Katie Landes, who lives nearby, said. “It woke me up personally and I mean, I knew right away that it was something not normal. So, I looked right outside the window that was right by me and I saw that there was the beginning of some serious smoke going on.”

Some came to Purcell Park to get a closer look. Now debris, shrapnel, and lingering smoke are left in the park.

“I still feel like I wasn’t as close as some of these houses I’m looking at right now, but it shook our entire house and ash was falling even that far away, probably a quarter of a mile,” Noah Yoder, who lives nearby, said.

“My house and everybody’s, everybody came outside of the house. The whole house started shaking,” Fouad Kababchy, who lives nearby, said.

Those there and still trying to process what happened.

“I think it’s insane. I mean, I just again I hope everyone’s okay,” Landes said.

“The store where they sell the guitars, drums, and different kind of things, I was in that area yesterday afternoon," Antonio Sosa, who lives nearby, said. “It is a catastrophe, a really bad thing that happened this morning in Harrisonburg.”

“Intense and incredible, that’s the only this I have to say about it. It’s crazy,” Yoder said.