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"Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by Snidget on 08-10-08 at 04:01 PM
"Thousands of people have been evacuated following an explosion at a propane gas plant in the north of the Canadian city of Toronto."

So far no reports of anyone being injured.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7552807.stm

*frets*

Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 08-10-08 at 04:13 PM
Actually, there's been quite a few that were injured, but mostly minor. There was an interview with a hoppin'-mad guy who lost the skin off his back after a fireball hit him on its way down from an explosion, got treated, taped up and then promptly went in front of a camera to give his 2 cents worth.

The explosions happened in a part of town that is a five-minute drive from my parents (I talked to them earlier and they're fine, they're just outside of the evacuation zone), and I have friends that are inside the zone but am not too worried about them as no deaths have been reported and mostly minor injuries.

Some of the stories and interviews have been quite interesting as it's been going non-stop here on Toronto's CityPulse 24 channel. There was one woman who woke up on the floor as the explosion was powerful enough to knock her right off the bed. Some guy watched a fireball go up in the air and then was knocked off his feet as the force of the blast hit him a couple seconds later. Railcars were seen flying through the air. A couple dozen explosions in all were heard, and a number of people got it all on video.

You can see a video here (on the left side): CityPulse 24


"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by Snidget on 08-10-08 at 04:33 PM
Even a minor burn can hurt like a SOB, but must not have been that bad if he was treated and released and he wasn't so doped up he could figure out how to find a camera.

They may have been doing the how many in hospital rather than how many got first aid for the figure the BBC reported (and don't know how old it was).

Still way more excitement than anyone needs on a Sunday.

"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 08-10-08 at 04:37 PM
LAST EDITED ON 08-10-08 AT 04:39 PM (EST)

Forgot to mention... there was one death from the explosions -- a firefighter was found dead near the site.

Firefighter killed. There are also more vivid pictures of the explosions on that page as well.

The reason why this guy (and many other residents) was so ticked off is because it did not make sense to have a propane factory right smack in the middle of a residential area.


"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by Snidget on 08-10-08 at 04:41 PM
Yep, had a lot of that sentiment when the chemical plant went up awhile ago around here.

Although sometimes they plant those things someplace and then the town moves to it. I agree they need to take into account these kinds of accidents when they site them and when they allow things to be built anywhere near them.

"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 08-10-08 at 04:58 PM
I can understand that about the town building around it, but Toronto is a pretty old city and the Keele-Wilson neighbourhood has been around for quite a while.

Hopefully this will spur a new movement to have stricter zoning bylaws to ensure factories that have potentially dangerous materials are never located in a residential zone again - and to ensure that residences are never to be built in an existing industrial zone.


"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by mysticwolf on 08-10-08 at 04:44 PM
LAST EDITED ON 08-10-08 AT 04:47 PM (EST)

Wow! Very glad no one was killed deaths and that physical injuries have been minimal. That must have been unbelievably scary for everyone. My heart goes out to them all, along with prayers for the firefighter's family and others affected.


Smokeysmom's comfort
Felt as far away as Aurora and Niagara? Holy heck!
Edit after reading Pepe's second post

"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by Smooth23 on 08-10-08 at 04:13 PM
I'm sorry I didn't get to see it. Huge explosions, no injuries, and I couldn't watch? What a shame.


Bang

"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by cahaya on 08-11-08 at 00:10 AM
It's just like you to ask for a front row seat.

Or what's left of it.

"Interesting thought..."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 08-10-08 at 08:15 PM
Toronto finished second to Beijing in the voting for the 2008 Olympics.

If Toronto had won the bid and hosted the Olympics in the same August time-frame, could you imagine the panic and media crush that would be taking place today with the explosion? The first thought would have been terrorism and nuclear attack.


"RE: Interesting thought..."
Posted by Snidget on 08-10-08 at 08:24 PM
Even with good communication you'd have an awful lot of wide spread panic and the problem of half a zillion people with no idea what the good fleeing roads are.
"RE: Interesting thought..."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 08-10-08 at 08:27 PM
Even now at 9 pm, traffic is still chaotic on the 401 highway. Imagine what it would have been like during the Olympics -- even if most of the planned hosting sites are downtown, there would still have been a few events at Downsview Park (a short hop from where the explosions took place) and most of the athletes would likely have been put up at York University (again, a short hop).

Oy.


"RE: Interesting thought..."
Posted by mysticwolf on 08-11-08 at 02:48 AM
Downsview Park? I think that's where the SARS concert that John and I went to (on our anniversary, now that I think of it) was held.

Oy, indeed.


Smokeysmom's comfort

"RE: Interesting thought..."
Posted by PepeLePew13 on 08-11-08 at 06:31 AM
LAST EDITED ON 08-11-08 AT 06:39 AM (EST)

Yeah, it's where a number of Olympics events were to be held, plans were in the works to build a stadium there too.

It's also where Pope John Paul II gave a World Youth Day mass about 5-6 years ago.

ETA: Yup, The SARS concert was indeed at Downsview Park. There's a couple of pics on there -- I'd say that 'could' be the propane factory in the background of the first picture as that's facing southbound (the gathering area of Downsview Park is almost directly north of the explosion site, about 2-3 blocks up).

Note: One of the pictures on that link is NSFW.


"Liveleak Video"
Posted by Capn2patch on 08-10-08 at 09:05 PM
Some language is not pg13

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c0f_1218368226


"RE: Propane explosion in Toronto"
Posted by Max Headroom on 08-11-08 at 07:12 AM
It must be Monday morning-- my first glance at that thread title gave me Poutine explosion in Toronto.

*heads off to the coffee pot*


I'm thankful the damage wasn't as bad as it could've been.