Downtown business sustains losses from weekend explosions

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A downtown Louisville business took a huge hit because of the minor explosions that shot manhole covers into the air.

The owner of Gavi's off South 7th Street said he lost power to the restaurant over the weekend because of the blasts.

There were four explosions and underground electrical fires near the restaurant. An LG&E spokesperson said the fires were caused by a fault in one of the underground cables.

"It was certainly a stressful and frustrating situation," Gaba Gavi said.

Only three of Gavi's eight refrigerators are working. Gavi said they ended up losing a lot of their meat and fresh produce.

"The commercial equipment isn't cheap," said Gavi. "Two-door reach in like we have here can cost three, four, five-thousand dollars."

LG&E crews were out on Monday repairing the cable. Gavi spent the weekend trying to figure out what to do. He said his customers have been pretty understanding about some of the items they've enjoyed not being on the menu for now.

"Sunday isn't a typical day for vendors and suppliers to be open," Gavi said. "We open at 7:00 a.m., and we get calls immediately as we are opening for deliveries and call-in orders, people coming in and having breakfast. We weren't able to provide those services."

Gavi still doesn't know how he's going to cover the cost of his loss. He hopes to resume complete services by the end of the week.

Copyright 2013 WAVE News. All rights reserved.