Calgary Fire Department suspects natural gas cause of NE explosion
Posted Mar 28, 2023 3:31 pm.
Last Updated Mar 29, 2023 7:31 am.
The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) suspects natural gas is the cause of the explosion that sent 10 people to hospital on Monday.
A home on Maryvale Way NE that was the source of the blast was “completely destroyed,” with the resulting fire damaging two nearby houses.
Eleven homes were damaged by the blast, along with leaving a “large debris field” in the area behind.
In an update Tuesday, CFD said it “sent equipment” pulled from the home for “investigation by a third party.”
It says the results from the investigation will not be available for a few weeks.
“The explosion completely destroyed the source home and caused damage to at least eight other homes nearby, as well as vehicles that were parked in proximity to the home,” said CFD spokesperson Kaila Lagran in a statement to CityNews.
Calgary EMS spokesperson Adam Loria told reporters Monday that all the victims were adults and that six of them had life-threatening injuries, and four were seriously hurt.
Fire crews say most of the people hurt are believed to be residents of the home where the blast originated.
Read More: Calgary explosion rocks NE Marlborough community
There is no information about the cost of the damage at this time.
“The entire Calgary Fire Department would like to extend their thoughts and prayers to those who were injured, their families, and their loved ones,” Lagran said.
Neighbours share accounts of what happened
Rima Rifai lives across the street from the site of the explosion, and she is still in shock.
“There’s a sense of being terrified as well. It was about 8:50 in the morning, and the whole house shook from the bang,” Rifai said.
“I thought it was actually from inside my house. I thought it could’ve been my furnace that had exploded.”
She claims other neighbours noticed a suspicious scent the evening before the blast.
“They were walking in the alley, and I guess it’s been told that there was a heavy smell of gas,” Rifai said.
Janet and Dennis Downes have lived in the house beside the home where the blast originated since the early 70s.
On Monday morning, they were driving to visit a relative when one of their neighbours called to inform them of the explosion.
“We didn’t know if there was a fire. We didn’t know if anything was left. We just felt hollow. We were just totally up in the air,” Janet told CityNews.
According to community advocate Gar Gar, it’s believed that all of the victims were from South Sudan.
In response to their situation, Gar visited a hospital and met with family members of the wounded. He’s now in the process of organizing a fundraiser which aims to support the victims.
Read More: ‘A miracle’: Advocate says help being planned for victims of Calgary house explosion
“As soon as we hear that each one gets discharged, then we’ll try to find a way so we can get them at least a house that they can stay in,” Gar said.
As of Tuesday evening, Alberta Health Services has provided no update on the conditions of the victims.
