Most residents back home after propane blast in Toronto
Last Updated: Monday, August 11, 2008 | 9:56 PM ET
CBC News
Rick Dillon shovels broken glass in front of a business in Toronto on Monday. He returned to his former company after six months of retirement to help with the cleanup from Sunday's explosions and fire at Sunrise Propane. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press) Most of the 12,000 people forced from their homes at the height of the propane inferno in Toronto on Sunday were back home on Monday afternoon, while residents of about 100 buildings were still waiting for the all-clear.
Police escorted some of those still under evacuation back to their homes late Monday afternoon, although the buildings were without gas or electricity. Residents are being asked to show identification in order to return to the following addresses:
- 99 -119 Katherine Rd.
- 25 -29 Garratt Blvd.
- 108 -138 (north side), 111-139 (south side) Regent Rd.
About five or six houses may have suffered structural damage beyond repair, according to the city.
The series of blasts that started about 3:50 a.m. forced about 10,000 residents to flee their homes. Veteran firefighter Bob Leek, 55, was found unresponsive near the fire site and was pronounced dead at hospital, although it's not clear how he died, and a Sunrise Propane employee has been missing since the explosions.
The explosion and fire at the Sunrise Propane plant sent clouds of carcinogenic asbestos over the neighbourhood and inflicted heavy damage on a number of homes. Tests by health officials are underway; it will be up to the Ministry of Environment to decide when the site is safe enough for the remaining evacuated residents to return home.
Some residents said they have been complaining about the plant for years but no one has listened.
"I could see all of the propane tanks just piling up, piling up, piling up," said area resident Rosanna Iaboni. "It was a mess, it was dirty, there was people there at all hours of the day and night. I'm angry. I'm furious. I'm frustrated."
Marco Viani, whose family lives across the street from the plant, said people complained when the plant was first being built.
"Everybody complained, saying why are they putting this station here? We complained [to] city hall, our MPs, politicians.… Nobody listened to us," Viani said.
"And we were all like, 'Something's gonna happen, something's gonna happen, something's gonna happen,' and eventually it happened."
Viani said his family is still waiting to hear when they will be allowed to return home.
Toronto Mayor David Miller said he hoped the last remaining families will be home very soon.
During a press conference Monday, Miller said the city will review all industrial areas that could potentially pose a threat to residential neighbourhoods, and whether zoning bylaws need to be changed to ensure public safety.
"I treat this extremely seriously and that's why city officials are doing our part to determine what's within our power to ensure public safety," Miller told reporters during an afternoon press conference.
One of those allowed to return to her home was Maria Mauko, a 76-year-old grandmother, who said she's lucky to be alive.
Mauko said she woke up at around 3:45 a.m. Sunday morning to what she thought was a bomb going off.
"I hear some noise," she said. "I was thinking someone throw a bomb in my window, some hot explosion, and I see the glass, I touch the glass."
Mauko ran out of her apartment into the street along with several other residents and found her son Joe, who had come looking for her.
Joe Mauko owns a photo studio in the plaza under his mother's apartment. He spent five hours cleaning up glass blown out by the explosion.
The repairs are going to cost him about $500, which he hopes his insurance will cover.
"I got a 5 o'clock appointment. There is going to be new glass and that person that walks in is not even going to know. It's going to be business as usual," he said.
