Whisper
August 10th, 2008, 02:30 PM
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A firefighter has been rushed to hospital from the scene of a blast at a north Toronto propane facility after being found with vital signs absent, police have confirmed.
CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon told Newsnet on Sunday that details are sketchy, but it could be a cardiac arrest situation.
Thousands of people remain out of their homes following the early Sunday explosions, and now there is word that Yorkdale Mall -- the massive shopping centre southeast of the explosion; where some blast evacuees were originally taken -- has itself been ordered evacuated as a precaution.
There have been other, more minor injuries associated with the blast. Police are still trying to determine the status of one missing person.
However, the situation at the propane facility itself is slowly getting under control, Division Commander Bob O'Hallarn of Toronto Fire told a news conference late Sunday morning.
Subway service along the northernwesternmost part of the subway line has been restored, the Toronto Transit Commission said Sunday afternoon in a news release.
The sounds of multiple booming blasts woke up people living in North York around Keele Street and Wilson Avenue between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Fire officials determined that the explosion originated from the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases facility on Murray Road.
The blast sparked a six-alarm blaze, with 160 firefighters and 35 pieces of equipment on scene to fight the fire.
When they arrived on the scene, four propane tanks were engulfed in flames. O'Hallarn said just after 11 a.m. the situation had improved, and that fire crews were dealing with only one propane tank that still had flames underneath it. Fire officials believe it is the tires underneath that are burning.
"It's still a risk but not as much as a risk as it was before," he said.
Firefighters are trying to cool the propane rail tankers to keep it from exploding. They are also trying to keep spot fires that have sprouted throughout the facility under control.
The tankers -- which were venting -- can hold up to 220,000 litres of propane, but it isn't known if they are full, he said.
"These tanks are well-designed and generally are quite safe," O'Hallarn said. "We'll have to investigate to see what happened."
Aerial TV images shown about 10:30 a.m. didn't show much active burning.
The residents of the neighbourhood are lucky the situation was not worse, said O'Hallarn.
"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."
The Ontario Fire Marshal's Office is on scene investigating the incident.
Giant fireballs
Several people reported minor injuries as the blast blew out windows and caused major damage to several homes. Police say that so far, one person is unaccounted for, but investigators gave no further details.
The blast lit up the area with giant orange fireballs, sent smoke billowing into the sky and could reportedly be heard dozens of 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 area resident Robert Helman.
"My windows just cracked and they blew out,'' said Ricardo Oliveria, 24.
"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.
O'Hallarn said his firefighters found some vehicles on fire in the area and damage to houses across the street when they arrived at the scene.
"So far we have not found anyone injured (in the houses)," he said.
Earlier, police said they were concerned about a driver who was on the site filling up his truck with propane. He has since been located safe but with minor injuries.
"The driver made his way to North York General Hospital," O'Hallarn said. "He was there, filling up his truck. He saw smoke or some type of gas, went to report that, left the area and then as soon as he left, there was an explosion."
Residents evacuated
Fire officials said residents living in a 1.6-kilometre radius around the plant had been evacuated over concerns about explosions from the tankers. Businesses in the area have been forced to close.
Evacuees are being taken to York University, at Keele Street and Steeles Avenue, where Salvation Army volunteers will serve them a hot meal. The Red Cross and the Humane Society will also be at York University to help people and pets should they need it.
"I don't think it will be days (before the evacuees can return home), I think it will be hours but if we run into problems that we can't foresee, then it might take longer," O'Hallarn said.
He said fire officials don't believe there is any reason to fear the air quality in the area but that residents are being told to leave in case there are further explosions.
Despite the risk, some people are refusing to leave their homes.
"Some of the residents have expressed their reluctance to leave the area," said O'Hallarn. "I say to those people for their own safety, it's a really good idea to leave. If we do have another tank rupture, then people in those areas might be injured."
The Canadian Press estimated that as many as 12,500 people could live in the evacuation zone around the site.
The evacuation zone encompasses Sheppard Avenue to Wilson Avenue, Dufferin Street to Keele Street.
Toronto Mayor David Miller is on vacation but has been reached by his office and has been regularly briefed on the situation, according to his spokesperson Stuart Green. He is expected to speak with the media later Sunday afternoon.
Elaine Smyer, with the city's emergency planning department, was at York University overseeing the evacuees. She told reporters at the scene crisis councillors are being made available to residents who were traumatized by the early morning blast.
She said friends and family should not come to York University to see their loved ones but can instead call a special phone number to inquire about their status. People will be asked to leave a message on an answering machine and someone will call them back with the information they are looking for, she said.
The phone number for friends and families of evacuees is 416-736-5185.
She said she expects most of the people who have been evacuated will choose to stay with their family and friends instead of at the university untl they are allowed to return back home.
"We do have the cooperation of York University if we need to expand to other facilities," she said.
Roads closed
The 401 Highway -- which runs east to west -- was shut down between the 400 Highway, the major artery leading north out of Toronto, and the Don Valley Parkway. This has snarled traffic for thousands of motorists.
Police said the highway should be re-opened later today, but there's no time estimate for when that might happen.
Public transit is also being affected. The subway along the Yonge-University-Spadina line is closed between Downsview and Lawrence West stations. Buses operating inside the evacuation zone are not on route but shuttle buses are running along the subway routes to help alleviate traffic congestion.
A no-fly zone has also been imposed to cover the skies above the fire site. Trish Krale of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority told Newsnet that the fire has only had a minor effect on operations at Pearson International Airport, which lies to the west of the fire.
There were workers at the facility, which operates 24 hours per day. Cabbies driving propane-powered vehicles often use it to fill up.
O'Hallarn said the cause of the blast isn't yet known
http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20080810/450_mynews_TO_080810.jpg
http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20080810/450_MN_propane_080810.jpg
A firefighter has been rushed to hospital from the scene of a blast at a north Toronto propane facility after being found with vital signs absent, police have confirmed.
CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon told Newsnet on Sunday that details are sketchy, but it could be a cardiac arrest situation.
Thousands of people remain out of their homes following the early Sunday explosions, and now there is word that Yorkdale Mall -- the massive shopping centre southeast of the explosion; where some blast evacuees were originally taken -- has itself been ordered evacuated as a precaution.
There have been other, more minor injuries associated with the blast. Police are still trying to determine the status of one missing person.
However, the situation at the propane facility itself is slowly getting under control, Division Commander Bob O'Hallarn of Toronto Fire told a news conference late Sunday morning.
Subway service along the northernwesternmost part of the subway line has been restored, the Toronto Transit Commission said Sunday afternoon in a news release.
The sounds of multiple booming blasts woke up people living in North York around Keele Street and Wilson Avenue between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Fire officials determined that the explosion originated from the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases facility on Murray Road.
The blast sparked a six-alarm blaze, with 160 firefighters and 35 pieces of equipment on scene to fight the fire.
When they arrived on the scene, four propane tanks were engulfed in flames. O'Hallarn said just after 11 a.m. the situation had improved, and that fire crews were dealing with only one propane tank that still had flames underneath it. Fire officials believe it is the tires underneath that are burning.
"It's still a risk but not as much as a risk as it was before," he said.
Firefighters are trying to cool the propane rail tankers to keep it from exploding. They are also trying to keep spot fires that have sprouted throughout the facility under control.
The tankers -- which were venting -- can hold up to 220,000 litres of propane, but it isn't known if they are full, he said.
"These tanks are well-designed and generally are quite safe," O'Hallarn said. "We'll have to investigate to see what happened."
Aerial TV images shown about 10:30 a.m. didn't show much active burning.
The residents of the neighbourhood are lucky the situation was not worse, said O'Hallarn.
"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."
The Ontario Fire Marshal's Office is on scene investigating the incident.
Giant fireballs
Several people reported minor injuries as the blast blew out windows and caused major damage to several homes. Police say that so far, one person is unaccounted for, but investigators gave no further details.
The blast lit up the area with giant orange fireballs, sent smoke billowing into the sky and could reportedly be heard dozens of 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 area resident Robert Helman.
"My windows just cracked and they blew out,'' said Ricardo Oliveria, 24.
"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.
O'Hallarn said his firefighters found some vehicles on fire in the area and damage to houses across the street when they arrived at the scene.
"So far we have not found anyone injured (in the houses)," he said.
Earlier, police said they were concerned about a driver who was on the site filling up his truck with propane. He has since been located safe but with minor injuries.
"The driver made his way to North York General Hospital," O'Hallarn said. "He was there, filling up his truck. He saw smoke or some type of gas, went to report that, left the area and then as soon as he left, there was an explosion."
Residents evacuated
Fire officials said residents living in a 1.6-kilometre radius around the plant had been evacuated over concerns about explosions from the tankers. Businesses in the area have been forced to close.
Evacuees are being taken to York University, at Keele Street and Steeles Avenue, where Salvation Army volunteers will serve them a hot meal. The Red Cross and the Humane Society will also be at York University to help people and pets should they need it.
"I don't think it will be days (before the evacuees can return home), I think it will be hours but if we run into problems that we can't foresee, then it might take longer," O'Hallarn said.
He said fire officials don't believe there is any reason to fear the air quality in the area but that residents are being told to leave in case there are further explosions.
Despite the risk, some people are refusing to leave their homes.
"Some of the residents have expressed their reluctance to leave the area," said O'Hallarn. "I say to those people for their own safety, it's a really good idea to leave. If we do have another tank rupture, then people in those areas might be injured."
The Canadian Press estimated that as many as 12,500 people could live in the evacuation zone around the site.
The evacuation zone encompasses Sheppard Avenue to Wilson Avenue, Dufferin Street to Keele Street.
Toronto Mayor David Miller is on vacation but has been reached by his office and has been regularly briefed on the situation, according to his spokesperson Stuart Green. He is expected to speak with the media later Sunday afternoon.
Elaine Smyer, with the city's emergency planning department, was at York University overseeing the evacuees. She told reporters at the scene crisis councillors are being made available to residents who were traumatized by the early morning blast.
She said friends and family should not come to York University to see their loved ones but can instead call a special phone number to inquire about their status. People will be asked to leave a message on an answering machine and someone will call them back with the information they are looking for, she said.
The phone number for friends and families of evacuees is 416-736-5185.
She said she expects most of the people who have been evacuated will choose to stay with their family and friends instead of at the university untl they are allowed to return back home.
"We do have the cooperation of York University if we need to expand to other facilities," she said.
Roads closed
The 401 Highway -- which runs east to west -- was shut down between the 400 Highway, the major artery leading north out of Toronto, and the Don Valley Parkway. This has snarled traffic for thousands of motorists.
Police said the highway should be re-opened later today, but there's no time estimate for when that might happen.
Public transit is also being affected. The subway along the Yonge-University-Spadina line is closed between Downsview and Lawrence West stations. Buses operating inside the evacuation zone are not on route but shuttle buses are running along the subway routes to help alleviate traffic congestion.
A no-fly zone has also been imposed to cover the skies above the fire site. Trish Krale of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority told Newsnet that the fire has only had a minor effect on operations at Pearson International Airport, which lies to the west of the fire.
There were workers at the facility, which operates 24 hours per day. Cabbies driving propane-powered vehicles often use it to fill up.
O'Hallarn said the cause of the blast isn't yet known