An explosion caused significant damage to a former school building holding several businesses in Ellwood City on Tuesday. 

The explosion rocked Ellwood City around 12:15 a.m. Calling it a "catastrophic disaster," Ellwood City Fire Chief Rick Myers said at least seven fire crews, police and EMS arrived at the building. 

Several businesses operate inside the building on Mount Vernon Drive, including a salon, tattoo place, Nick Frisk III law office, It's Time Fitness and The Time Brewpub. Myers said the building's owner also owns the decimated brewpub. 

"He put his heart and soul into there. He's got multiple businesses in there that he runs with his family and so to see something like that, that he was just getting up off of his feet and running, it's tragic for him and his family," Myers said. 

Ellwood City's mayor said police told him this may be a gas leak explosion.  

Explosion shakes neighborhood 

The explosion happened practically in Joanna Schmidt's backyard. It cracked her garage foundation and blew the windows out on her house. 

"I feel like if my garage wasn't here, the house would've gotten (hit) worse," Schmidt said.

KT Thompson, one of the first neighbors on scene, said he could smell gas and there was smoke everywhere. He said it sounded like a massive explosion. 

"What I saw just blew my mind," he said. 

The noise could be heard throughout the region, including at Mayor Anthony Court's house a mile away.

"It sounded like a bomb went off in my condo," Court said.

Schmidt said everyone is grateful no one was caught in the explosion. 

"I'm actually pretty shook," said Schmidt. 

"It's just very scary because you don't know, you don't like to think — there's no 'what ifs,' but thankfully, we're all OK, she added. 

Now neighbors feel for the building owner after his loss. 

"Anything he needs I'm right here cause he knows I love him and he's my brother," said neighbor Evan Westlund, who also lives just houses away from the blast. He said, "My house shook, my cabinets were actually open in my house." 

He said the owner of the building and the brewpub built something they enjoyed out of something left vacant, and it took a while for him to get the building and businesses set up as they were before the explosion.

Lawyer's office escapes major damage

Nicholas Frisk III's law office is inside the building. 

"I feel bad for the owner, because he put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this place," Frisk said.

Frisk said his office has been there for more than a decade, and he's known his landlord, the owner of the pub, for more than 35 years. The blast devastated that business, but Frisk was lucky. He said his place is just filled with dust and his clients' files are all safe.

"My door, actually, the handle got blown out and blown off, and there was a couple of filing cabinets down, but no sustained damage of monetary value," Frisk said.

A friend even already offered him a new spot to move into, a thoughtful gesture as the community starts to pick up the pieces and heal.

"It's a sad day for Ellwood City, but the positive note is people in this town seem to stick together for the most part, and a lot of people came through to help, not only myself, but a lot of others too," Frisk said.

The businesses based in the building will stay out until it's declared structurally safe to re-enter. In the meantime, the Ellwood City fire chief said state police and the ATF are investigating the cause of the explosion.