A house exploded in Nanaimosa国际传媒檚 Old City Quarter on Sunday night.
Emergency crews were called to the 300 block of Pine Street at 8:20 p.m. on Feb. 27 after a structure exploded next to St. Petersa国际传媒檚 Roman Catholic Church. The explosion could be felt kilometres away.
Nanaimo RCMP, in a press release, said the home was sa国际传媒渞educed to rubble.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚 saw a huge fireball, debris flying everywhere, and after that everything died down,sa国际传媒� said witness Andrew Johnson, who arrived at the church moments before the explosion. sa国际传媒淧ower went out, came back on.sa国际传媒�
He and other witnesses said multiple people appeared to have suffered injuries in the incident. RCMP said a neighbouring home sustained sa国际传媒渟ignificant damage from the blastsa国际传媒� and two of that homesa国际传媒檚 residents were transported to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for treatment after being struck by shards of broken glass.
Homeowners nearby were asked to vacate their homes while utility crews investigated and RCMP at the scene were telling people to stay back due to a gas leak. The RCMP release said officers at sa国际传媒渄etected a strong odor natural gas coming from the debris.sa国际传媒�
RCMP added that investigators believe the home was vacant.
Father Harrison Ayre, pastor of St. Petersa国际传媒檚, said staff were just arriving at the church at the time of the incident, prior to the shelter opening for the night.
sa国际传媒淚 hope everyonesa国际传媒檚 OK,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭his probably could have been a lot worse, too. Itsa国际传媒檚 surreal, still.sa国际传媒�
BC Emergency Health Services says six people were hurt and two needed hospital treatment but their injuries are considered superficial.
Natural gas provider FortisBC says in a social media post that the homesa国际传媒檚 natural gas meter was damaged and gas was blowing from it, but crews capped the leak.
Fortis says there has been no confirmation of the cause of the blast, but an investigation is underway.
Huge explosion and bright light flash seen in Harewood, Nanaimo neighbourhood at approximately 8:30 pm.
sa国际传媒� Mandy Moraes Moon (@newmoon_reports)
A thread
-files from Mandy Moraes/Black Press Media and Canadian Press
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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