WATCH: An explosion in Canmore sent three people to hospital in stable condition. Paul Haysom reports.
CALGARY – Multiple emergency crews responded to an explosion and fires in Canmore, Alta. that destroyed a home and injured about 40 people on Friday night.
Calgary EMS says the call came shortly after 5 p.m., when EMS paramedic units from Canmore, Banff and Nakoda were sent to 13 Street in Canmore. ATCO Gas was also on scene as of 6 p.m. Gas had been shut off in 430 homes and businesses in the area of 8 Avenue and 7 Street North and 17 Street South as of 7 p.m., according to the town’s website.
EMS initially reported one man had been taken to Canmore General Hospital in stable condition, but later clarified it was a woman. EMS said two other adults were eventually taken to hospital; all three were in stable, non life-threatening condition.
Brian Cox, the Calgary region operations director for ATCO Gas, said the explosion was caused by a gas leak. He said a third-party contractor was digging deep utilities in the area on Friday afternoon.
“When you turn off the gas, it takes a little while for the gas to stop flowing.”
Canmore Mayor John Borrowman said there’s a structural engineer going into every building in the area, including the seniors lodge, which is just behind the blast site.
“Fortunately, the explosion occurred right when the seniors were in the dining room for their dinner. There was a whole wing of the lodge that was exposed to the blast. Those rooms have been covered with shattered glass, so if the seniors had been in their rooms, we would’ve had a lot of injuries in the seniors population there,” Borrowman said. “Because they were in the dining room, which is protected from the blast by another wing of the lodge, everybody was safe and nobody was hurt. The seniors were kept outside of the lodge for a few hours until a structural engineer had assessed it.’
Individual homeowners will be allowed to get back into their homes to pick up their possessions under close supervision. Some homeowners will be able to go in, board up their windows, and start necessary repair work.
Canmore RCMP said approximately 40 people suffered “minor injuries such as cuts and scrapes from flying glass and debris.” More than 400 people were displaced from their homes Friday night since utilities were shut off after the explosion. RCMP say victim services was working with people who were affected.
“Early estimations show about 50 residents were evacuated from the Bow River Seniors Lodge and cared for outside by paramedic crews, and lodge staff, until it was deemed safe for them to reenter,” said EMS spokesperson Adam Loria in a 9 p.m. email. All residents have since been allowed back in the lodge.
RCMP said numerous houses in the area were damaged as a result of the blast, but the house where the explosion originated was empty at the time. Some minor injuries were reported from people living in the area; all utility workers in the area were accounted for.
The Town of Canmore said there was damage to 12 to 15 houses and 13 Street between 925-958 was closed to traffic as of 7 p.m.
Streets around the Bow River Senior Citizens Lodge were evacuated, and the town advised residents to stay away from the area. The town’s Facebook page said spot fires were being put out by fire crews.
An engineering firm was checking evacuated homes and the seniors lodge for structural damage on Friday night.
EMS said paramedics would remain on scene in “standby capacity” for utilities crews and other agencies that were still working Friday night.
RCMP said the incident is under investigation.
Residents who live near the explosion site described hearing a loud bang.
“All I heard is this ‘kaboom,’” said Al Girard. “And I looked up and just saw glass, shingles, the whole house raining down on us.”
“There was some off-duty army guy so we kicked in the doors of the houses, checked all the rooms, made sure people weren’t there and took out animals and then we ran across to the old folks’ home and there was a gentleman on the floor so we assisted with them, because EMS had to go the blast site first.”
Girard said there was a construction crew working in the area prior to the blast.
“Right now they’re doing another part of the seniors lodge behind it, and I’m not sure if it was a back hoe that hit a gas line and if all the gas backed up into this one house and it was ‘bang.’”
Brian Baisz lives about 100 metres away from the house that exploded. His property received some damage, including blown out windows and doors.
“Looks like the house got pressurized in some way and one of the bedrooms actually has a crack, almost as if the wall heaved and moved a couple inches and came back into place,” Baisz said. “Even three blocks away…there’s debris all over the streets, like shingles, insulation. That doesn’t even include the small particles that were floating in the air. The dust cloud went hundreds of metres away, maybe even more than that. It was incredible.”
Gillian Booth, a homeowner waiting to get back inside her house behind police lines said residents in the area were eager to help.
“The amazing thing is as we were on our way, there were hundreds of people running, all saying they wanted to come and see how they could help. There was just an amazing showmanship of community and caringness,” Booth said.
With files from Paul Haysom and Jayme Doll
Comments