“It sounded like a bomb,” Alberto Volpe, a resident who lives nearby, told local paper the Record. “We thought it was a terrorist attack.”
The incident took place at Goshen Street in Paterson at around 9:25 a.m. local time.
“There was a very gassy smell,” said Laura, a woman who works nearby. “I walked out and saw a whole bunch of people running.”
Ahmad Hasan, 18, who lives on a nearby street, was woken up by the explosion.
“I thought I was in a dream,” he said. “I went out and all I saw was dust and smoke. It smelled like gas.”
Firefighters, law enforcement, and PSE&G officials are on the scene.
“God forbid someone was in there,” Hasan added. “It was crazy.”
