MARION COUNTY, Fla. – An Ocala man who was injured in a local laundromat explosion last month has now retained the services of Morgan & Morgan, the law firm announced on Tuesday.
In a release, Morgan & Morgan explained that the man — Ismael Regis, 25 — was in the laundromat when it exploded, leaving him with serious burns and a head injury.
Aside from Regis, three other people were injured in the blast.
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The explosion happened on July 30 along Northeast 25th Avenue at the Classic Laundromat & Dry Cleaner. At the time, a 911 caller said the resulting smoke and debris appeared to have stopped traffic.
“I was in the middle of doing something, and I just heard this massive explosion,” a nearby witness told News 6 after the incident. “Our entire building just shook. I’ve got some sort of alarm going off in the store. I’m not sure if it’s our safe. But there’s debris falling all the way to our building. There’s smoke in the air, and it smells like gas outside.”
The release shows that the site of the explosion is less than 3 miles from the law firm’s Ocala office.
“It’s terrifying to imagine being inside a building, going about your daily business, when it explodes, burning you and throwing you to the ground,” the release reads. “Our client is lucky to be alive, but he has suffered serious, life-altering injuries. We are investigating the cause of the explosion and will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to determine how and why this happened and who is responsible.”
[WATCH VIDEO OF THE EXPLOSION’S AFTERMATH IN THE MEDIA PLAYER BELOW]
No additional information has been provided at this time, including the cause of the explosion. However, Ocala Fire Rescue told News 6 that gas was considered.
“One of the challenges is: it takes time to be able to access and investigate the premises,” said Jared Lee, one of Regis’ attorneys. “You know, it has to be safe enough for the investigation to occur. But that’s part of the challenge.”
Lee added that Regis was at the laundromat helping his mother-in-law with laundry when the explosion happened.
“He does have significant burns over large areas of his body that he’ll have to navigate,” Lee explained. “But that recovery process isn’t a linear thing, so we’re waiting for his body to heal to try to understand where he’s at — where he’ll be.”
Many of the businesses in the same strip mall as the laundromat remain closed, except for the pharmacy.
The city of Ocala sent out letters to the businesses impacted by the explosion with a list of repairs needed before they can reopen.
In addition, Tuesday’s statement was just to announce that Regis had hired Morgan & Morgan. No lawsuit has been filed yet.
News 6 has reached out to the State Fire Marshal’s Office for an update on the investigation and is awaiting a response.
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