T.O. firefighter dies at site of massive explosions
A 25-year veteran firefighter has died battling a blaze at a Toronto propane facility. Explosions at the plant have forced up to 13,000 people from their homes and temporarily shut down a section of Canada's busiest highway.
"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.
Officials are not releasing the firefighter's name pending notification of kin. He was found with vital signs absent, but a cause of death has not been determined.
"It was not a traumatic injury; he wasn't impacted by anything. It was just in the course of him performing some operations that he went down," said Sheen.
"It's hard," he added, visibly shaken by the death. "I'm sure that all of our guys are having a rough time with it."
Toronto Mayor David Miller had earlier said his "thoughts and prayers" were with the firefighter's family.
Thousands of people living within 1.6 kilometres of the fire had to flee their homes early Sunday. Family and friends can call 416-736-5185 for information.
There have been minor injuries associated with the blast and police are still trying to determine the status of one missing person, an employee of the business -- Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases.
There were workers at the facility, which operates 24 hours per day. Cabbies driving propane-powered vehicles often use it to fill up.
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 upper northwestern reaches of the Yonge-University subway line has been restored, the Toronto Transit Commission said Sunday afternoon in a news release.
The 401 Highway, one of the country's busiest, remains closed between the 400 Highway, a major artery leading north out of Toronto, and the Don Valley Parkway. There is a partial closure of the air space over the fire site.
Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson Sgt. Cam Wooley said it may have been the first time in Toronto such a large section of the 401 had been closed both ways.
"I've been with the OPP for 30 years and this is the first time I've ever seen the entire 401 through Toronto closed. It's a 16-kilometres stretch," he said.
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 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 the situation had improved by about 11 a.m., and that fire crews were dealing with one propane truck tanker that still had flames burning underneath.
"It's still a risk but not as much as a risk as it was before," he said.
Firefighters tried to cool the propane rail tankers to keep them from exploding. The rail tankers -- which were venting -- can hold up to 220,000 litres of propane, but it wasn't known if they were full, O'Hallarn said.
"These tanks are well-designed and generally are quite safe," he said. "We'll have to investigate to see what happened."
Giant fireballs
Several people reported minor injuries as the blast blew out windows and caused major damage to several homes. Police said one person was unaccounted for, but investigators gave no further details.
He appears to be an employee at the propane facility.
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."
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.
Evacuees
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 were forced to close.
Evacuees were taken to York University, at Keele Street and Steeles Avenue, where Salvation Army volunteers served them a hot meal. The Red Cross and the Humane Society were also at York University to help people and pets in need.
"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.
Despite the risk, some people reportedly refused to leave their homes.
Elaine Smyer, with the city's emergency planning department, was at York University overseeing the evacuees. She told reporters at the scene that crisis councillors have been made available to residents who were traumatized by the early morning blast.
With files from The Canadian Press
