No one was injured in an explosion and fire at Victory Brewing’s brewpub and taproom in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, on Monday evening.
“Our taproom was closed for business on Monday, so no customers or team members were in the building at the time of the incident,” Artisanal Beverage Ventures chief marketing officer Derek Detenber told Brewbound. “Today, our team is on site and continuing to work with the fire and police departments to gather information around this unfortunate incident.”
Victory occupies the first floor of a mixed-use building on the 600 block of West Cypress Street with apartments on upper floors. All residents were evacuated, according to a report from ABC 6 Action News Philadelphia, which included a description from a man at the scene who said he saw the building split open and a fireball shoot out.
Neither the cause of the incident nor the extent of the damage was known at press time.
“We will continue to work with authorities to learn more about what occurred last night and with the Red Cross on how we can help our neighbors in the building who have been displaced,” Detenber said. “For now, we continue to pray for the safety of those involved and want to thank the first responders who quickly arrived on site, safely aided in the evacuation of the building and gained control over the fire.”
In addition to the Kennett Square location, Victory operates two other breweries and taprooms in Pennsylvania — the company’s original Downingtown location and its main production facility in Parkesburg. Both those breweries are operating and their taprooms are open for business.
The Kennett Square location contains a small brewhouse for research and development, but does not produce beer for distribution, Detenber told Brewbound.
“This doesn’t change the horrible nature of the incident, but the main production and taproom locations are still up and running,” he said.