Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:39 pm Post subject: Toronto Propane Explosion
Quote:
TORONTO - Vivid orange fire balls lit up the early morning sky and drove thousands of terrified people from their homes Sunday as a thunderous propane explosion scorched a Toronto neighbourhood but somehow left only a handful of residents with minor injuries.
Although one person believed to be an employee of the propane plant was unaccounted for and a firefighter died after he was found near the scene without vital signs, officials said the city's residents "got off very lucky."
While the blaze continued to burn into the evening officials declared it "under control." The serious threat posed by propane and the possibility of further explosions saw a voluntary evacuation order upheld for the northwest Toronto neighbourhood that's home to some 12,500 people.
Taken first to a military base and then to York University, traumatized residents - some who fled in their pyjamas - faced an uncertain night waiting for the OK to return home.
One by one, witnesses recalled the booming noise and acrid charcoal smell of the blast at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases that shook surrounding buildings shortly before 4 a.m. and was heard seven kilometres away.
"It was just a tremendous explosion and blew all the windows out of the house, just blew the house up, and I just managed to get out of there in time," said Robert Halman, who was covered in cuts and bruises as he fled his home.
Halman said he saw a "huge fireball" and heard "multiple explosions," and, as he ran out of his house, a "wave of a heat" was not far behind.
Ricardo Oliveira, 24, was on the third floor of his house when he received a call from his girlfriend who heard the explosion and was frightened. He told her it was probably just a thunderstorm, but then came an unmistakable blast.
"My windows just cracked and they blew out," Oliveira said.
"My whole room lights up orange and I look out. I live on the top floor so I had a perfect view. And I just seen a huge ball of flame hundreds of metres in the sky, big black pillars of smoke."
"We got freaked out. My family woke up. They thought it was a plane that went down," he said.
The first explosion sounded like a thunderclap and was followed by a series of more muffled explosions.
The blasts shut down Canada's busiest highway, the 401, and Highway 400 which carries people to and from Ontario's cottage country.
A partial no-fly zone was established in the air.
Although the cause of the veteran firefighter's death was not immediately clear officials said "it was not a traumatic injury."
"It wasn't impacted by anything, it was just in the course of him performing some operations that he went down," said David Sheen, Toronto Fire Services division chief.
"I don't know of any pre-existing medical conditions that could have contributed to this tragic accident."
A visibly shaken Sheen said he wouldn't release the firefighter's identity until next of kin were notified. He added he knew the man, a 25-year veteran, personally.
"It's hard, it's hard," Sheen said, choking back tears.
"I'm sure that all of our, all of our guys are having a rough time with it."
Although the blaze was brought "under control" by afternoon, Mayor David Miller said that "because of the serious nature of propane, we do not know at this time when people will be able to return to their homes."
One woman likened the blast to the end of the world and a soldier said it reminded him of the smells and sights of war.
Thousands in the 1.6-kilometre radius of the plant were ordered out of their homes by police on bull horns.
But with only a handful of people reporting minor injuries despite a raging heat that scorched a large swath of the neighbourhood, one fire official said the city's residents were "lucky."
"There was a very, very large amount of fire when we arrived and the extent of the explosion, if the blast was heard as far away as it was, could have been much more serious," said Division Cmdr. Bob O'Hallarn.
"Hopefully we won't find that there are a lot of people missing or injured but so far it looks like we got off very lucky." He made the comments before the firefighter was reported dead.
Police said eight people had minor injuries and one person - a worker at the plant - was unaccounted for.
"The person who we described as being unaccounted for, I believe, is someone who was an employee of the business where the explosion took place," said Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash. "So, efforts continue to try to track down that person."
Some people raced out of their homes still wearing their pyjamas, grabbing only their loved ones and pets. Others piled into cars to drive out of the area to the safety of the homes of friends.
Officials at first feared the air had turned toxic, but air quality tests later in the day showed the explosion did not in fact produce toxins.
Some residents drove themselves to hospital reporting respiratory problems.
Emergency crews had been fearful of another explosion as two railway tanks continued to burn more than six hours after the explosion. The tanks have the capacity to hold up to 220,000 litres of propane, although officials said they believed they were not full.
An emergency worker with Bombardier, which has a facility in the area, said he saw houses on fire. The worker, who did not want to be identified, also said he saw propane tanks dropping from the sky.
Police brought in buses to take residents out of the area, some wearing masks.
About a dozen terrified residents - some clad in pyjamas and housecoats - found their way on foot to Yorkdale mall, where security offered them water and a place to rest until they found shelter elsewhere.
Some reported that a woman covered in burns was taken by ambulance to hospital after her ceiling collapsed on top of her. Others paced the mall entrance waiting for word from loved ones or police, anxious to return to their homes.
Beatrice Zampini, 48, wiped away tears as she sat in the mall's makeshift emergency shelter, her teenage son and daughter by her side. She hadn't heard from her husband, Gino, who disappeared in the midst of the chaos.
"He was going to check on my parents, but the explosions were getting louder and louder, so the three of us just ran and ran and ran," she said.
Her daughter Daniela, 19, woke up to the explosion, which sent her ceiling light crashing to the ground. She fled outside with her family, only to find the street teeming with panicked neighbours.
"Everyone outside was saying, 'Run like hell!"' she said.
"Everyone was just running down the street. It was like something from a movie."
Many angry residents in the area they describe as a tight-knit community where extended families live a few doors from each other were demanding to know why such a facility was ever allowed in their established residential neighbourhood.
Josei Miceli, 59, who has lived there for 40 years, says the area is full of elderly people who aren't mobile.
"We were concerned when this company moved at the end of the street," said Miceli, who snatched her small Yorkshire terrier, Harley, before fleeing her home.
"But we weren't even advised that they were going to be there. They just moved in and we've been concerned since they were there that something like this would happen."
A city taxi driver said he and his co-workers fill up their cabs at Sunrise Propane, which also provides 24-hour emergency service.
The company's website says it also serves residential, industrial and agriculture clients. The industrial gases it supplies include nitrogen, propane, helium and argon. Sunrise Propane also provides safety training for propane and dangerous goods certificates.
Propane is stored and transported in a compressed liquid form, vapourizing only when pressure is released.
The gas is an asphyxiant, meaning it cuts off oxygen to the body and can cause suffocation. Exposure to high levels of propane can cause a plethora of health problems, including frostbite if it touches skin.
Oh my God. Oh my God.
I just saw this on the news... and I found this article and I decided to let you all know.
OMG, yeah! I saw that on the news last night!!! I was like "Holy Shmizzles!!! No! I hope none of my DN friends are hurt!" Haha >.< I overreacted. Like always. *shrugs* _________________ Karissa
FFnet: XxKarissaShayexX
YTcom: Inuksh19
Yeah I heard that too! Even though I live all the way in California. I saw the news on one of the IMDB boards I was at. _________________ Artemus: Plush, Mr. Pudding.
...*Joanne*...
My house was close enough to the explosin that it rattled the windows and shook the walls. And the sky was really bright, like daytime... Then my Sis, Mom and me went to our Aunt's for a day or so.
But my school was right next to the explosion, thus all the windows are blown out.
Quote:
OMG, yeah! I saw that on the news last night!!! I was like "Holy Shmizzles!!! No! I hope none of my DN friends are hurt!" Haha >.< I overreacted. Like always. *shrugs*
LOL!!!! That's cool, how you were thinking about the Daseyers in the area _________________ Veronica
FF- Bloodtoast. Previously Dasey Must Happen
YT -- Bloodtoastie
I would hate to live in Toronto though that. But living 3+ hours away and not payin attention to the news is sometimes sad of me! I too hope that all the Dasey Nationers in Toronto are fine! _________________ http://www.fanfiction.net/~allybooklover6677
~ siggy made by AngelOfMusic123
~ icon made by Reader134
DASEY ~ The exception to ALL rules!!
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