The province is being urged to help business owners impacted by an explosion in Wheatley.
Thursday's blast near Erie and Talbot Streets heavily damaged two buildings and also damaged the Subway across the street owned by the family of Jigar Prajapati.
The explosion happed at 6 p.m. but gas monitoring devices placed at the site indicated the presence of gas at approximately 4:30pm, setting off alarms and activating a 9-1-1 call.
Prajapati says firefighters had come into the restaurant to tell them about a gas leak across the street and that they should get ready to close down.
"Suddenly, it just exploded and my employees were there inside but they were working at the back side. So, thank god they didn't get a hard damage it's just a little scratch because the glass all flew inside," he says.
The explosion happened near the area where hydrogen sulphide gas was first discovered back in June, prompting an evacuation order and the declaration of a state of emergency.
Prajapati calls it another devastating blow for the business, which was forced to shut down for 15 days last month when the emergency order was issued due to the leak.
"It looks like it will be a month because they haven't even found where the gas leak is coming from and they don't have any solution right now," he says. "Our business was already not going well and then this came up so it's really hard and it's the only business we have right now, so right now we have no income at all."
Prajapati says they're asking for help to deal with the situation from the province.
"Because last time when it was closed for 15 days no one helped us. We talked to our insurance company and they said they haven't gotten any response yet and this is a big damage for us. At least if the government knows maybe they can come up and step up," he says.
The explosion injuried 20 people and sent three to the hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Another voice calling on the government for help is Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff. He's asking the provincial government to use its authority and expertise to respond to the recurring hydrogen sulphide leak, and officials have requested a meeting with the province to demand a plan of action.
With files from Aaron Mahoney, Gord Bacon and CTV News Windsor