Massive explosion in North Toronto, Ontario

wiki news ^ | 08/10/2008 | contribs

[xcamel]

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The explosion seen from the Keele Overpass Image: Michael Gil.

A large explosion has been reported at a propane depot in northern Toronto on Keele Street, near the Highway 401, at approximately 3:48am EST. The cause is currently unknown.

A person who was 10km from the explosion told Wikinews that "my house shook 10 km away. The sky was rumbling every few seconds."

A user on YouTube named "wolfshades" said that "we don't know whether the explosion was chemical or by virtue of its proximity to the Toronto Airport if a plane had crashed."

It is not yet known if the event caused any injuries, although Michael Gil, a contributer to the photo sharing site Flickr, said that "people are hurt."

Large numbers of police are on the scene to keep people away from the explosion.

[xp38]

There have been a series of explosions...maybe after the first some cameras were aimed at the place. Local news report...

Homes evacuated and section of 401 closed after explosions in Keele and Wilson area

Sunday, August 10, 2008 - 05:30 AM
By: 680News Staff

Police evacuated homes in the area of Keele and Wilson after a series of explosions at a propane facility.

At the request of Toronto Police Service, OPP and MTO closed all access to Highway 401 between DVP/404 and Highway 400.

Residents are being warned that the smoke could be toxic. Police say there were workers in the propane depot, but it’s unknown what happened to them. So far there are no confirmed casualties.

Callers to the 680News room said there were dozens of explosions that shook buildings and sent black smoke billowing into the air.

A man named Bernard called 680News and said he was working at a building in the area when the explosions occurred and he thought the building was going to come down. He said, “Glass was flying everywhere, the doors were knocked in, it’s a terrible mess.”

A woman named Christina said, “There was a huge, huge billow of smoke that went straight up in the air and then an absolute massive gas ball exploded.”

Police brought in buses to take residents out of the area to the Yorkdale shopping centre southeast of the scene of the explosions.

A number of police and emergency vehicles are at the scene. Some roads in the area were closed off and police blocked access to the 401 at Keele.

There were no reports of any serious injuries.

[Caramelgal]

How did it happen that a video camera was on in the middle of the night, recording a fire that nobody in the media seems to care about?

I’m guessing that the very first explosion woke up quite a few people who ran to their windows to see what was happening and seeing a really big fire a few got their camcorders out.

The guy could have already been awake, either up really late or up really early.

[fanfan]

[fanfan]

Toronto Star

Massive evacuation follows blast

Thousands out of home after early morning fireworks at propane depot

Thousands of people have been evacuated and an entire section of the city's north end has been completely shut down as emergency officials continue to fight a major fire at a propane distributor in the Wilson Ave. and Keele St. area, caused by a series of explosions just before 4 a.m. this morning.

At this point, official say the number one concern for firefighters are two large rail tankers on the property. Each tanker has the capacity to carry 220,000 litres of propane gas. Officials do not believe they are full but have caught fire throughout the morning.

“The tanks are venting and we have to cool them with water to prevent them from potentially exploding,” said Bob O’Hallarn, Toronto fire division commander.

Police say air quality testing has been done and has revealed the air is not toxic.

O’Hallarn said since the fire started, only one person has been transported to hospital, with a sprained ankle. However, there are several reports of people making their way to hospitals on their own.

A stretch of Hwy. 401 has been closed - between the DVP/404 and Hwy. 400 - as well as all ramps exiting and entering that part of the highway. A no-fly zone has been declared above the area.

“There is a no-fly zone for small planes and Toronto airport has been alerted to ensure the safety of people arriving in Toronto,” O’Hallarn said.

“We have about 35 apparatus; 130 firefighters,” he said. “I believe we may have more than that for a while because we had a shift changeover,” he said, explaining that both overnight and morning personnel are fighting the blaze.

Eyewitness accounts say explosions were so powerful that windows were knocked out, framed photographs hanging on people’s walls have been broken and there are reports of cars on fire.

“(Damage includes) some vehicles on fire, damage to houses from the explosion across the street. We’ve checked out the houses . . . so far, we have not found anyone injured in those houses,” O’Hallarn said.

“We’ve treated some minor injuries at the scene . . . for minor cuts and bruises. We have notified all the local hospitals,” said Peter McEntire of Toronto EMS.

It is unclear how many people were in the facility when the explosion took place. O’Hallarn said there was a driver on property loading his delivery truck and he saw some smoke. It does not appear he is injured.

There are no preliminary reports of what the cause was.

O’Hallarn said firefighters have had to get water from elsewhere because the fire is so big.

“Anytime we have an; incident of this size, we are going to have to be bringing water from a fair ways away. The main (waterway) can only supply so much water. We are relaying water from other areas.”

As of this point, the fire has not yet been controlled.

“We are asking people that live within the area . . . please leave their homes at this point. If you have a home or a business, we ask you to leave and get to a place of safety,” said Neil Correander of Toronto police.

“People who do not have vehicles, the TTC is assisting us on the major streets . . . we ask people who are leaving their homes to please take any medication . . . anything you require to get through the course of this day.”

“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,” Robert Helman told The Canadian Press, who was covered in cuts and bruises. As he ran out of his house, a “wave of a heat” followed him.

Eugene Koutcher, who lives about a kilometre south of the area, said the explosions woke him up to “a huge orange fire” early today.

“I was just asleep and it was a huge explosion and I thought it was thunderstorm,” he said. “It was absolutely a huge explosion, actually a number of explosions.”

An emergency worker with Bombardier, which has a facility in the area, told CP he saw houses on fire. The worker, who did not want to be identified, also said he saw propane tanks dropping from the sky.

The worker said the propane supply was shut down, but warned there could be more explosions until the remaining propane in the tanks is burned.

Star Staff

[csvset]

Toronto propane blast prompts evacuation

The Canadian Press

August 10, 2008 at 9:14 AM EDT

TORONTO — Thousands of people are being evacuated from their homes following a series of massive explosions at a Toronto propane facility.

A series of explosions sent balls of fire and plumes of black smoke into the early morning sky Sunday and forced police to order the evacuation of a large number of frightened residents.

Highways were shut down and a no-fly zone was ordered over the area in northwest Toronto at Keele and Wilson.

Police urged people to leave their homes and for worried relatives to stay away. They said air quality testing showed the air is not toxic.

Shelby Degan holds her sweater to her mouth in an attempt to filter out the smoke as she walks from her home several blocks from a five-alarm blaze at a propane refinery in northwest Toronto, Sunday. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/J.P. Moczulski)

Internet Links

• Share: Your photos, video of the fire

Witnesses who live near the Sunrise Propane facility in the northwest Toronto neighbourhood said they were awakened by a thunderous explosion and saw the sky light up bright orange before it turned black with smoke.

“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 Helman, who was covered in cuts and bruises.

Police, who were to provide more details from a command centre in the area at 8 a.m., reported at least two injuries.

A fire official said residents living in a 1.6-kilometre radius had been forced out of their homes.

Mr. Helman said he saw a “huge fireball” and heard “multiple explosions,” just before 4 a.m.

As he ran out of his house, a “wave of a heat” followed him.

Ricardo Oliveria, 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 thunder storm, but then heard a blast.

“My windows just cracked and they blew out,” Mr. 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 loud thunderclap and could be heard at least seven kilometres away.

It was followed by a series of more muffled explosions.

Clouds of dark smoke could be seen billowing hundreds of metres into the air and were visible from the 401 highway. Provincial police began closing all access to Highway 401 between the Don Valley Parkway and Highway 400 at about 7 a.m.

Shortly afterward, Toronto fire services division commander Bob O'Hallaran said there were still some tankers in flames at the site.

“We're working on cooling those down,” said Mr. O'Hallaran. “And we're evacuating the area as a precaution.”

Mr. O'Hallaran said some houses were damaged.

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.

The worker said the propane supply was shut down, but warned there could be more explosions until the remaining propane in the tanks is burned.

Police brought in buses to take residents out of the area to the Yorkdale shopping centre southeast of the scene of the explosions.

Some people moved away from the danger zone were wearing masks.

Police with megaphones were warning residents that the air was toxic and they should leave immediately.

Some terrified residents walked to the shopping mall in their pyjamas. Mall security helped keep them calm and offered them a place to rest.

Police said there were workers at the propane facility, but it wasn't known how many or if they were safe.

Scores of police and emergency vehicles were on the scene trying to keep people out of the danger zone. A police spokesman said officers had been dispatched from all divisions.

A city taxi driver said he and his co-workers fill up their cabs at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases, which also provides 24-hour emergency service.

The company's website says it also serves residential, industrial and agriculture clients. The industrial gas it supplies includes nitrogen, propane, helium and argon. Sunrise Propane also provides safety training for propane and dangerous goods certificates.

[nuconvert]

WoW

[fanfan]

These images show a massive explosion in Toronto's northwest in the early morning of Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008. The elapsed time for the four images is about ten seconds.

[P-Marlowe]

A large explosion has been reported at a propane depot.... The cause is currently unknown.

I would be willing to bet that the cause of the explosion was.... propane.

[dbacks]

[ROP alert?]

You bet. I watched 30 sec. of the U-tube video and using my brilliant powers of observation and analytical abilities, I determined it was Mahmoud-al-blivet, using an IED, in the propane yard.

Case closed.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I would be willing to bet that the cause of the explosion was.... propane.

Which means that global warming will now be accelerated. Polar bears will die for this.

[PAR35]

They’ve had a couple of similar incidents in Texas over the last few years.

[Chgogal]

Special prayers for our Canadian neighbors in the Toronto vicinity. Unbelievable.

[HollyB]

Time 1:50 (for visual) and 4:20 (audio) on the first youtube video you posted.

[Chgogal]

FYI!

Thackney, how dependent is Toronto and environs on this propane supply and supply depot? From the looks of it, it seems to be a huge propane plant/depot.

[fanfan]

Thanks Chgogal.

[Clive]

-

[HollyB]

If I saw that in the night sky (especially the huge fire ball that occurred at one point), it would have freaked me out pretty good.

[Chgogal]

Watch the videos. It is quite impressive in the bad way.

The first one is the best. The guy was very steady but much further away than the second video. The second video is closer to ground zero. You can see debris flying up in the air.

[modest proposal]

Jesus.

If I had been near that I would have thought it was a nuke at first.

[Candor7]

Someone violated a "No Smoking Area" rule?

OOOOwwch!