Four people were taken to hospital after an explosion at a townhouse complex in Kitchener late Wednesday, according to Waterloo Regional Police.
They say emergency services were dispatched to a townhouse on Elm Ridge Drive near Queen’s Boulevard after several calls were received about the explosion at around 11:40 p.m.
Police say an explosion occurred inside the home, causing extensive damage.
“The two neighbouring units also sustained significant structural damage,” Const. Bradley Hickey told Global News. “Two adult individuals were transported to an out-of-region hospital with serious injuries. Two children were also transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.”
A Grand River Transit bus was brought in to provide shelter for those who were displaced by the explosion. Police say the Red Cross will also be providing assistance.
Police say an investigation is underway by officers, alongside Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM), and they are still working to determine the cause.
Kitchener Fire Chief Robert Gilmore said there was “extensive” damage to the residence but was unable to provide a cause of the explosion.
“The fire marshal is on scene now,” he told reporters.
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“They’ll probably be well into tomorrow and maybe the next day before there’s a cause determined.”
The OFM confirmed it was on the scene investigating but was unable to provide any further details about the incident.
“The Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) was called in to investigate the cause, origin, and circumstance of the explosion that occurred in Kitchener,” a statement from the OFM read.
Gilmore was unable to provide an estimate as to the damage but believed it was over a $1 million.
Shaina Nanco lives in the unit next door to the explosion and said it sounded as though something had driven into the building.
“Me and my kids were sleeping and my boyfriend and his brother, we were all sleeping. And all of a sudden we heard a big boom,” she said.
“And at first we thought, you know, maybe a transport truck went into the building. And then all of the sudden we heard everyone telling us to get out.”
That sentiment was echoed by another neighbour, Noah Brown, who lives across the hall.
“I thought maybe something like landed on the roof or because your mind doesn’t immediately go to explosion in the unit across the hall,” Brown said.
He said he did not see any fire once he left his unit.
“There was an explosion, but no fire. That’s what I’m confused about,” Brown said. “I don’t really have any idea of what could have happened. But we live in the unit across the hall, everything shifted. Our doors don’t open properly now, paint’s coming off the wall in some spots. Like, our whole basement got filled with smoke.”
Nanco said her children play with the kids who lived in the home where the explosion occurred.
“They’re very sweet people,” she told Global News. “We’ve never had problems with them. The kids play outside together. They’re just sweet people.”
She has not been allowed back into her home and it is unclear whether she will.
“We were told that the structure of our place is not good or livable for us right now, so we’re pretty much trying to figure out where to go from here and finding places to live and whatever,” she said.
— with files from Global News’ Marc Carcasole
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