East Carolina Veterinary Medical Center went up in flames after a hit-and-run caused a gas-leakage explosion on Tuesday morning, injuring three responding firefighters.

Two of the Wilmington, North Carolina, firefighters have non-life threatening injuries and one firefighter has burns on the hands and arms, according to the Wilmington Fire Department’s Public Information Officer Rebekah Thurston. (RELATED: Tropical Storm, Storm Surge Warnings Issues As Hurricane Erin Approaches North Carolina’s Outer Banks)

“A car had struck the building and ruptured a gas line,” Thurston told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Firefighters were inside doing a primary search of the building to ensure that no one was inside. No civilians were inside when there was an explosion.”

🚨 BREAKING: Massive explosion in Wilmington, NC after vehicle crashes into Eastern Carolina Veterinary Referral building, rupturing gas line. Multiple firefighters injured. Debris and flames engulf the area. pic.twitter.com/W9fwiMcYrJ

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 19, 2025

Police located the driver and reported signs of impairment, and have taken the driver into custody, according to Lieutenant Greg Willett, the Wilmington Police Department’s Public Information Officer.

“While firefighters were mitigating that [the gas leakage], and while our officers were on the scene investigating the hit and run, another officer located both the vehicle and the driver,” Willett told the DCNF. “While the driver was being taken into custody at another location, around 11:30, is when the explosion occurred.”

The driver is awaiting charges, according to Willett.

“The officers noticed evidence in the vehicle of impairment, and the driver exhibited some signs of impairment and was taken into custody,” Willett said. “They’re still working on that and working on the charges.”

This was a new location for the veterans center and was set to open in September, according to the center’s website.

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