Calgary explosion rocks NE Marlborough community
Posted Mar 27, 2023 10:17 am.
Last Updated Mar 29, 2023 8:19 am.
An explosion rocked a Marlborough community in Calgary’s northeast Monday, leaving 10 people hurt, six of them in life-threatening condition.
Witnesses tell CityNews they heard a “big loud boom” around 8:50 a.m. on Maryvale Way.
“I just hear an explosion — what I now know was an explosion … I thought something had hit my house,” said Michaela Sara Sweeney.
“The whole house shook, for starters, and it was like a hollow sound. I don’t know. I couldn’t even make the sound if I tried. It was jarring.”
The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) says the home that was the source of the blast was “completely destroyed,” with the resulting fire damaging two nearby houses.
CFD Chief Steve Dongworth told reporters Monday morning that eight other homes were damaged by the explosion.
“There were multiple casualties evident when our crews pulled up,” he said.
“Safety is our priority. And there were some evidently seriously injured patients when they arrived.”
EMS spokesperson Adam Loria said no children were involved in the blast.
“Six of the 10 were considered in life-threatening condition once they were triaged at the scene here. And the remaining four [are in] non-life threatening condition. However, they did sustain serious injuries as well.”
Fire crews say most of the people hurt are believed to be residents of the home where the blast occurred.
Two people talk in the foreground of a fire that was caught in an explosion in Marlborough in northeast Calgary on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Courtesy of Tim Khoury)
Rima Rifai, who also lives in the area, says some debris fell from her ceiling, though her home wasn’t one of those directly hit by the explosion.
“I was so scared,” she told CityNews. “[If you] look out the window, and you [see] that the neighbours’ house was levelled, it was levelled, and there was a small bit of fire.”
She says the family inside the home where the explosion originated has been in the area for 20 years.
“It looked like a warzone,” Rima said of the aftermath.
Other people in the area say the explosion sounded like a “plane had crashed.”
“It’s like something out of a disaster movie,” said CityNews camera operator Nick Blakeney.
CFD says the explosion left a “large debris field,” along with several fires.
As of around 12 p.m., firefighters said they had not been able to get into the home to look for anyone else inside due to “structural instability.”
About 1,000 Enmax customers lost power in the communities of Forest Heights, Franklin, Marlborough, and Marlborough Park. That number has since dropped.
CFD says ATCO is “working on clamping the natural gas line.”
There were around 20 Calgary firefighters on the scene, along with EMS responding.
Calgary fire asks anyone that has video, photos or information regarding this incident to please email piofire@calgary.ca.
Calgary firefighters attend to people in the area of a home caught in the centre of an explosion in Marlborough in northeast Calgary on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Courtesy of Tim Khoury)
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
