No One Injured During Overnight Explosion at Ohlin’s Bakery

Ohlin’s Bakery doughnut case. / Photo via Facebook

The team at Ohlin’s Bakery in Belmont is taking a rare day off from baking: The neighborhood shop is temporarily shuttered after an explosion in its kitchen early this morning.

Around 2:45 a.m., “I was right in front of [a big stack of pans] when the gas explosion from the oven happened,” owner Paul Klemm told WCVB . “I couldn’t feel anything, but I could feel the energy all around me.”

No more than six feet from the explosion, Klemm suffered just mildly singed hair. Another employee, Noureddine Hessasta, was in the bakery at the time, but is also unharmed, CBS reports.

Authorities are still investigating the issue, but it appears a gas oven blew up and caused the flames. The damaged oven was in the rear of the bakery, so Ohlin’s front facade does not appear affected, though a rear brick wall is blown out. A barber shop next door has broken front windows. A building inspector from the town of Belmont was on scene early this morning to assess the entire block of retail on on Common Street, according to WCVB. Because of the collapsed brick wall, Belmont Fire responders told the Belmontonian the structural damage is likely “significant.”

Ohlin’s celebrated its centennial anniversary last year. The Klemm family has owned the Cushing Square bakery since 1967; they also owned and operated other local bakeries, including Lyndell’s in Somerville. Ohlin’s typically opens seven days a week, 365 days a year, with fresh-baked breads, pastries, cakes, and some of the area’s best doughnuts.

Stay tuned on social media for news of Ohlin’s reopening.

Ohlin’s Bakery, 456 Common St., Belmont, 617-484-0274.