Massive Explosion Heard In This Portion Of New York State

An explosion startled many people late Thursday night, traveling across a portion of New York state.

The explosion could be heard by residents in Dunkirk, Jamestown,  and other nearby towns. 

One person from Angola asked us, “Was there an earthquake near my house?” 

It was not an earthquake, but rather a fire and a resulting explosion in the Chautauqua County Town of Ellery. 

Another local resident, who wants to remain anonymous, posted his concerns on the Nextdoor app:

“A large explosion just occurred; I noticed it in the east Evans/Derby area. I was in an enclosed patio and it sounded like it originated from the sky, and a fraction of a second later, the pressure wave shook the house.”

He described the explosion as “much louder than a shotgun” and “too loud, sharp, and short in duration to be thunder.”

“No idea what it could be,” he said. 

While there are still a lot of questions surrounding the loud boom, it was confirmed by WGRZ Traffic Tracker Dave Cash that there was an explosion that occurred around the same time. 

The explosion happened on Route 380 at Harvey Rd, which will cause some delays in your commute this morning. 

As a result, Route 380 is closed from Stockton to Gerry. If you typically take that route to work, you may want to use Route 60 as an alternate route. Dave Cash told drivers to “expect delays between Jamestown & Dunkirk.”