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13,000 Residents Return Home After Massive Toronto Propane Fire
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by Rob Walker | August 11, 2008 at 06:57 am
613 views | 11 Recommendations | 6 comments
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A 22-year veteran Toronto firefighter is dead of apparent natural causes after fighting a giant blaze at a propane facility. An employee of the Facility is still missing after the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gas plant went up early Sunday morning.
Up to 13,000 residents in a 1.6 km radius fled from the fires as they burned throughout the morning and emergency services rushed to the scene. They are in the slow process of returning to their homes and electrical power is being returned transformer-by-transformer. Gas power may take weeks to repair.
Previous NowPublic Coverage:
Evacuated residents of a 1.6-kilometre swath of northwest Toronto are now allowed back into their homes, emergency management officials said Sunday night. Highways are now being reopened. Full service has been restored on the TTC. Yorkdale Bus Terminal , (not Yorkdale Mall, as previously reported by CP24), has been closed for the day.
Officials say that the power is being turned on in the neighbourhood one transformer at a time, but it could take days for gas service to be restored in all homes.
Up to 13,000 Toronto residents are returning home after they were forced to flee a massive fire at a propane facility. A Toronto firefighter died near the scene of the blaze, and an employee at the plant is missing.Bob Leek, a 25-year veteran firefighter, was surveying an area close to the fire at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases when he died.
"Every effort was made to resuscitate him. However we do regret to inform everyone that we did lose one of our members today," Division Chief David Sheen told reporters late Sunday afternoon.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (6)
at 07:06 on August 11th, 2008
Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff.
It is amazing and fortunate that they where not more casualties!
at 10:15 on August 11th, 2008
Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 11:07 on August 11th, 2008
Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 03:55 on August 12th, 2008
All started around 3:50am on Aug 10, 08 when a first huge blast happened. Then series of small blasts continued until big explosion happened just before 4:00am. Big orange ball went up to the sky and lighted it up like in the sunrise. A big explosion of propane tanks near Keele and Wilson area continued at least until 4:30 am with smaller blasts and big fire which continued for hours after that.
reedjy has contributed a photo to this story.
at 03:58 on August 12th, 2008
Rob Walker, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 09:05 on August 20th, 2008
These were taken from the north east of the blast, at around 4:30am. There was a very loud sound of gas excaping almost like a jet engine starting. Tanks were still exploding every minute and I could see clearly large pieces of glowing red tanker flying 100 feet or more and landing in the lot and buildings to the north. Looking at these pictures again I wonder if perhaps I was too close for safety sake.
a.t_downtown has contributed a photo to this story.