Municipal Responsibilities
Over 40 years ago when we lived in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto, when our children were infants, I well recall one very hot summer night when the windows of our living room were thrown wide open as we hoped to catch stray night time breezes to cool off the house, we were abruptly whipped away from our comfortable relaxation with the sound of a huge !!whump!! that simultaneously seemed to lift the draperies on either side of the windows straight up to the ceiling.
We were thrown into instant panic, heading straight for the children's bedrooms to see if they were all right, awaiting with great trepidation any following night-sky thumps, wondering if we were being invaded by some alien military force. Tuning into the radio, turning on the television, telephoning the town hall, made us no wiser. Telephone calls were exchanged with neighbours. No one could deduce the source of the immense impact.
We discovered the following day that a propane installation in Maple, Ontario, had blown up, and with it several lives. Presumably its placement in a small town was far away from peoples' homes, but that was so long ago, we can barely recall what transpired in the news after that event. But the memory of the panic we felt when we were assailed by that huge report and the rude wind that impacted on our home, so far from the source, instilled a sense of respect for potential danger with such installations.
And so it should have also with municipal authorities whose job it is among other things, to determine zoning for industrial placements of highly inflammable materials - as far from residential zoning as possible lest a catastrophic event such as the week-end's blast after a propane plant exploded might take place. It's a minor miracle that there was one sad death related to the immense explosion; that of the sole employee of Sunrise Propane present there at the time.
Miraculously, nearby residents - as close as the houses facing the plant across the roadway - escaped unscathed but for a few minor injuries. People were forced to flee from their homes in their nightwear, shoeless, some carrying pets, and told to evacuate the area - just keep walking, they were told. So much for emergency preparedness; it took some while before emergency personnel had buses on the scene to take people to various safe-haven destinations.
Such as York University which opened its doors to evacuees, preparing with the help of emergency workers to bed them down there for the night. While most others who evacuated fled to the homes of family members and friends. In the end, it took fire crews a full 16 hours to control the blaze that ensued in the wake of the explosion and fireball that levelled the propane plant. The Ontario Fire Marshall's office is sifting through the remains to ascertain the cause.
Regardless of the cause, it's incredible that such a depot was permitted to locate in that area. Everyone living within a 1.6 kilometre radius of the scene was urged to vacate their premises. Homes and nearby businesses were damaged by the blast. People were traumatized by the impact of the explosion, fearing for their lives as they fled what they didn't understand what was occurring. An earthquake, many thought, while others thought the area had been struck by a massive bomb.
The area around Keele and Wilson became a dead zone as police, rescue workers and firefighters attempted to deal with the issue of a still-undetermined number of explosions that had rocked the area. An important section of Highway 401 was shut down for the better part of the day, while the situation was being evaluated, in fears that there might be additional explosions. Yorkdale Mall, a huge shopping infrastructure, was shut down.
Bystanders took photographs of the huge mushroom cloud that rose above the scene following the red-hot incandescent bloom of explosive fire. The propane company installed at that junction was not always there; its presence did not precede the building of the homes and businesses surrounding it. For some truly idiotic reason they were permitted to position themselves there, legally; the municipality later said they had all the requisite permits.
Long-time residents had complained to the city when, a mere four years earlier, Sunrise Propane had installed itself directly within their residential enclave. Obviously, to no avail. The company stored and distributed highly flammable welding supplies, along with gases such as acetylene, argon, nitrogen, propane and oxygen. All highly explosive elements. This was an accident waiting to happen. Despite which authorities say the cause has not yet been determined.
The sheer idiocy of permitting such an installation within the city, in the midst of a residential-business neighbourhood is mind-boggling, to say the very least. In the United States and much of Europe this would never be permitted. An installation such as a propane gas depot must be located at least two miles away from residences. Time for the City of Toronto - along with all other responsible municipal governing bodies in the country - to visit the issue and produce remedial zoning bylaws.
We were thrown into instant panic, heading straight for the children's bedrooms to see if they were all right, awaiting with great trepidation any following night-sky thumps, wondering if we were being invaded by some alien military force. Tuning into the radio, turning on the television, telephoning the town hall, made us no wiser. Telephone calls were exchanged with neighbours. No one could deduce the source of the immense impact.
We discovered the following day that a propane installation in Maple, Ontario, had blown up, and with it several lives. Presumably its placement in a small town was far away from peoples' homes, but that was so long ago, we can barely recall what transpired in the news after that event. But the memory of the panic we felt when we were assailed by that huge report and the rude wind that impacted on our home, so far from the source, instilled a sense of respect for potential danger with such installations.
And so it should have also with municipal authorities whose job it is among other things, to determine zoning for industrial placements of highly inflammable materials - as far from residential zoning as possible lest a catastrophic event such as the week-end's blast after a propane plant exploded might take place. It's a minor miracle that there was one sad death related to the immense explosion; that of the sole employee of Sunrise Propane present there at the time.
Miraculously, nearby residents - as close as the houses facing the plant across the roadway - escaped unscathed but for a few minor injuries. People were forced to flee from their homes in their nightwear, shoeless, some carrying pets, and told to evacuate the area - just keep walking, they were told. So much for emergency preparedness; it took some while before emergency personnel had buses on the scene to take people to various safe-haven destinations.
Such as York University which opened its doors to evacuees, preparing with the help of emergency workers to bed them down there for the night. While most others who evacuated fled to the homes of family members and friends. In the end, it took fire crews a full 16 hours to control the blaze that ensued in the wake of the explosion and fireball that levelled the propane plant. The Ontario Fire Marshall's office is sifting through the remains to ascertain the cause.
Regardless of the cause, it's incredible that such a depot was permitted to locate in that area. Everyone living within a 1.6 kilometre radius of the scene was urged to vacate their premises. Homes and nearby businesses were damaged by the blast. People were traumatized by the impact of the explosion, fearing for their lives as they fled what they didn't understand what was occurring. An earthquake, many thought, while others thought the area had been struck by a massive bomb.
The area around Keele and Wilson became a dead zone as police, rescue workers and firefighters attempted to deal with the issue of a still-undetermined number of explosions that had rocked the area. An important section of Highway 401 was shut down for the better part of the day, while the situation was being evaluated, in fears that there might be additional explosions. Yorkdale Mall, a huge shopping infrastructure, was shut down.
Bystanders took photographs of the huge mushroom cloud that rose above the scene following the red-hot incandescent bloom of explosive fire. The propane company installed at that junction was not always there; its presence did not precede the building of the homes and businesses surrounding it. For some truly idiotic reason they were permitted to position themselves there, legally; the municipality later said they had all the requisite permits.
Long-time residents had complained to the city when, a mere four years earlier, Sunrise Propane had installed itself directly within their residential enclave. Obviously, to no avail. The company stored and distributed highly flammable welding supplies, along with gases such as acetylene, argon, nitrogen, propane and oxygen. All highly explosive elements. This was an accident waiting to happen. Despite which authorities say the cause has not yet been determined.
The sheer idiocy of permitting such an installation within the city, in the midst of a residential-business neighbourhood is mind-boggling, to say the very least. In the United States and much of Europe this would never be permitted. An installation such as a propane gas depot must be located at least two miles away from residences. Time for the City of Toronto - along with all other responsible municipal governing bodies in the country - to visit the issue and produce remedial zoning bylaws.
posted by Pieface | 7:05 PM
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