After 'direct blast,' Durham residents step back into apartments rattled by gas explosion

"My front door is still blown open," he said.

And with good reason. After the blast Wednesday morning, first responders made their way through Fox's building kicking in doors to make sure nobody inside was injured. He lives at Toms Warehouse, at 206 N. Duke St., just across the street from the epicenter of the explosion.

There is hardly a window left intact. Large panes of glass collapsed on Fox's bed. Fortunately, he was not laying there.

Debris was launched across the apartment with a force so powerful it stuck in the walls, only minutes after Fox had stepped out.

He has a long cleanup ahead, but Fox understands it could have been much worse.

"There are people worse off than me. people that got injured, people that got hurt," he said. "I'm definitely shaken up, but it could have been a lot worse, you know."

His neighbor Glenn Osterberg was outside at the time, headed to the Kaffeinated coffeeshop.

"I was coming out of my building, walking to the coffee shop," he said.

He ran back in for cover.

"It was dusty inside," Osterberg said. "The building definitely shook."

The explosion put Osterberg out of both home and work. Although he's been able to get back into his apartment, the restaurant where he works, Saint James Seafood at 806 W. Main St., is also close to the blast. It remains closed.