**UPDATE** Durham officials confirmed that the victim of Wednesday’s gas leak explosion is 61-year-old Kong Lee, the owner of the Kaffeinate coffee shop. One person has died in an explosion that shook downtown Durham on Wednesday morning. Emergency crews are on the scene on North Duke Street attempting to put out the fire that has started in the building. Durham Police said in a media briefing that a contractor was digging and hit a pipe, which caused a gas leak explosion. I climbed to the top of our parking garage to get this footage of a reported gas leak in Durham @WRAL pic.twitter.com/0whWsfU4s1 — Christian Leonard (@ChristianLnrd) April 10, 2019 One firefighter was also injured and 15 people have been taken to the hospital. Buildings around the area have been evacuated. UNC Medical Center tweeted that they had received one patient from the explosion and were on standby to possibly receive additional victims. People quickly responded to the explosion on social media, saying they could feel the shock from blocks away. Several store windows in the local area were also blown out. Durham Public Schools announced on Twitter that students and staff were safe in place at Durham School of the Arts and that early dismissal was in process. The coffee shop Kaffeinate, which is located on Duke Street, posted on Instagram that they would be closed for the rest of the day Wednesday. Photos and videos from the scene of the explosion indicate that Kaffeinate was among the businesses caught in the explosion. A spokesperson from the Town of Chapel Hill confirmed that the town sent fire trucks to Durham for normal mutual aid as Durham emergency crews deal with the explosion. Officials are asking everyone to avoid the area. Latest update from @DurhamPoliceNC & @durhamcityfire regarding today’s explosion & fire near @BrightleafSq. Please continue to avoid this area while our first responders work this scene. pic.twitter.com/xZARkQ0fUO — CityofDurhamNC (@CityofDurhamNC) April 10, 2019 I’m closely monitoring the dangerous fire and explosion reported in Durham. My heart is with the first responders and entire Durham community as we await more details. — David E. Price (@RepDavidEPrice) April 10, 2019 My heart is with Durham today. #onecommunity — Lydia Lavelle (@lydialavelle) April 10, 2019 This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available. Featured image via Alert Durham<doc-sep>— A sign read “We will miss you,” and the message was felt by those who attended a customer organized vigil to honor the Durham coffee shop owner killed in a downtown explosion. “It’s really hard to describe. When it was happening, we did smell gas and we did evacuate, but the last thing on our mind was that it was going to explode,” Rich Bond said. It’s been almost a week since a gas leak caused an explosion that shook Durham. Some, like Bond, made it out in time. One man, Kong Lee, did not. Lee, 61, was the only person killed in the explosion that injured more than a dozen others. Family members said he was preparing to close the shop because of the gas leak when the explosion occurred. On Tuesday night, the community remembered Lee as a father, friend and owner of Kaffienate, the community’s beloved coffee shop. “We were all part of the same building. He was a very good guy and he cared about his beautiful business. He cared about his community and that’s really probably why he was in the building to begin with, because he cared about all that,” Bond said. For others at the vigil, Lee was their first introduction to Durham. Lee was one of the first people Tai Renwei Chung met when he moved to the Bull City. “I lost my father five years ago and, instantly, he felt like a father figure to me,” Chung said. The void Lee left behind could be felt among the candlelight along Morgan Street Tuesday night. “In times of a lot of change, he was a constant, so to see something that was such a pillar of the community go down, I think it just feels so real and raw still trying to deal with it,” Bond said. The Lee family said they’re grieving in private, but community members want them to know they are loved and supported. In a social media post last week, Lee's family said that Kaffienate will remain closed indefinitely.<doc-sep>A massive explosion in Durham, North Carolina, on Wednesday turned the popular coffee shop Kaffeinate into rubble while killing its owner, 61-year-old Kong Lee. Lee was the only person killed following the explosion, which was caused by a gas leak. The fire injured at least 25 people, including nine firefighters, two of whom remain in critical condition, the Durham Fire Department said yesterday. According to a report from The News & Observer, firefighters were called to the scene of the reported leak at 9:38 a.m. At 10:04 a.m., firefighters entered the coffee shop, ordering approximately 10 staff members and customers to evacuate. One minute later, at 10:05 a.m., the shop’s Facebook page issued the following post, which is believed to have been written by Lee just before his death: “Due to circumstances beyond our control- we are CLOSED today. We will keep you updated on tomorrow. Thanks for understanding!” The explosion occurred two minutes after that post, at 10:07 p.m. “The last we heard from our dad, he called us to tell us there was a gas leak outside and to let our staff and customers know we would be closed for the day,” Lee’s children, Diana and Raymond, wrote on the company’s Facebook page this morning. “He was going to close up and make a sign to put on our door in case anybody came by later. He took such good care of the shop and was so proud of it.” Durham Fire Chief Robert Zoldos told the News & Observer that firefighters were on their way back to Kaffeinate to evacuate Lee as the explosion occurred. One witness reported seeing Lee flipping the “open” sign to “closed” at the moment of the explosion. Since the tragedy, the Lee family has received an outpouring of support from the Durham community, where Lee reportedly has run several small businesses over the years. The Korean-born Lee owned a dry cleaning shop and a mortgage business before opening Kaffeinate, a no-frills coffee and waffles cafe near Durham’s city center, Duke’s East Campus, and the Durham School of the Arts. Diana and Raymond said their father always wanted to open a cafe, in order to serve people and help build a stronger local community. “This is our dad. He had the biggest, purest heart out of anyone we know. He always wanted a cafe because he loved to serve people, and we were finally able to build him one,” they wrote. “He loved being able to bring people something that would make them smile. The family we created at Kaffeinate made him so happy. We watched your smiles give him strength and joy. Thank you. Above all, he valued family, and he did everything to give us the best life he could. That means he often worked 12-13 hour days doing jobs no one else wanted to do. He never complained because he never wanted us to worry. That was our dad.” A friend of Diana Lee has set up a Go Fund Me page for the Lee family.<doc-sep>EMBED >More News Videos 15 buildings damaged in Durham gas explosion Wednesday DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- The gas explosion in downtown Durham did more than break windows, topple buildings and damage Porsches -- it damaged lives.Kong Lee, the owner of Kaffeinate coffee shop, died in the explosion, leaving his family, friends and patrons at a loss. "He's real friendly, real nice. He's always happy. You could see him. He was just always smiling. He always greeted everybody. He was a real nice guy," Kaffeinate patron Crystal Abauta told ABC11.She was one of the people in the area who evacuated when she smelled gas Wednesday. She got away just before the blast. "It sounded like a bomb exploding, really. That's what it pretty much sounded like. It was just really loud. It shook and vibrated everything," Abauta said.Lee was inside his coffee shop when the blast happenedDurham firefighters were dispatched to the area for a gas leak around 9:38 a.m. When they arrived, they called for backup and began evacuating the area. "Eight to 10 people were in the coffee shop and without the incredible work of our firefighters to get them out immediately, they would have also perished inside the building," Durham Fire Chief Robert Zoldos said.The building exploded at 10:07 a.m. with Lee still inside.Zoldos said Lee was previously evacuated but decided to go back inside. Firefighters had just asked a police officer to come enforce the evacuation order at the coffee shop to get Lee to leave when the building exploded. "I saw him put the sign--he was putting a sign in the window, and It said 'closed due to gas leak,'" Abauta said. "That's what I'm thinking: He was just going to put the sign and just go, but before he could get out it happened. "Tim Scales, a loyal Kaffeinate customer, says he's heartbroken. He was just two blocks away at work during Wednesday's gas explosion. "As soon as we heard that there was a fatality my heart just sank," Scales said. "It just felt almost certain that it would be him. He was just such a fixture of that place that I associated that coffee shop with him. "So in tribute, Scales posted an image on Facebook that Lee snapped last summer of him and his son Emerson at Kaffeinate. Lee offered to capture the special moment as a keepsake. "I just thought that was just such a sweet gesture and as soon as I learned the news I went straight back to that photo and it was a very touching memory of him and the kindness that he brought into the world," he said.Molly Gehirng lived across the street from Kaffeinate in West Village and tells ABC11 she visited the shop frequently when she worked from home. "He was just the most welcoming presence," Gehirng said.On top of the loss of Kong, the explosion displaced Gehirng from her apartment. "Minor inconvenience," she said. "My heart really goes out to the Lee family. The community is here for them when they are ready for help."<doc-sep>
× Expand Photo via GoFundMe The family of Kong Lee, center, the owner of a Durham coffee shop killed in an explosion on April 10. The children of a coffee shop owner killed in an explosion this week in Durham are remembering Kong Lee as the “best dad we could have ever asked for.” Diana and Raymond Lee posted on Instagram last night that Kaffeinate coffee shop, which had occupied the first floor of the now-destroyed building at 115 North Duke Street, was closing indefinitely. In the post, they thanked first responders who responded to a gas leak and explosion at the shop Wednesday morning, and customers who had supported the family business. “The family we created at Kaffeinate made him so happy,” they wrote. “We watched your smiles give him strength and joy. Thank you. Above all, he valued family, and he did everything to give us the best life he could. That means he often worked 12-13 hour days doing jobs no one else wanted to do. He never complained because he never wanted us to worry. That was our dad.” In addition to losing a man with the “biggest, purest heart out of anyone we know,” the family lost their sole source of income. Kaffeinate baristas are in need of work, they wrote. “Kaffeinate is closed indefinitely. It always was and always will be for our dad,” they wrote. “We've been discussing it and hope one day to be able to rebuild and reopen and bring his memory back to life.” Firefighters were called to North Duke Street at about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday in response to a gas leak and immediately began evacuating Kaffeinate. Fire Chief Robert Zoldos said earlier this week that eight to ten people who “would have also perished inside the building” were evacuated prior to the blast. Firefighters instructed Lee – last seen in the doorway of the business - to leave as well, but he didn’t immediately heed to order and moments later the building collapsed. What sparked the explosion – which injured at least twenty-five people and damaged at least fifteen buildings - is still under investigation, though city officials have said a contractor installing fiber cables struck an underground gas line. “The last we heard from our dad, he called us to tell us there was a gas leak outside and to let our staff and customers know we would be closed for the day,” the Lees wrote. “He was going to close up and make a sign to put on our door in case anybody came by later.” The family asked anyone with memories of Lee to share them on Kaffeinate’s Instagram. The shared an online fundraiser to support the family. In addition to 115 North Duke Street, 806 West Main Street - home to St. James Seafood - has been condemned, Zoldos said Thursday. Torreros, the former Triangle Brewing and a Duke office at 710 West Main Street do not have occupancy permits. Other fundraising sites have been set up to help families, businesses, and restaurant workers impacted by the explosion. A celebration of the 150th anniversary of Durham’s founding will take place as planned on Saturday, but “will serve as a way for the community to be with one another in solidarity and commend the heroic actions of first responders,” according to Discover Durham.