A “very significant” explosion within a house woke up residents in the Park Avenue area of Hanmer at approximately 3:50 a.m. this morning.
The explosion sparked a blaze affecting three houses on Park Avenue.
“The main home at the centre and the homes on either side, one more significantly than the other,” Greater Sudbury Fire Services Deputy Chief Jesse Oshell explained to Sudbury.com.
On the scene this morning, the house at the centre was seen completely levelled by the explosion and blaze. The home to the left was damaged and uninhabitable, while the home to the right had minimal damage and was deemed habitable by local firefighters.
A full-time crew from the Val Therese station arrived within 10 minutes of the explosion, Oshell said, and were followed by crews from an additional seven stations.
“When they arrived, the home was completely gone,” Oshell said of the initial crew. “It had fallen, collapsed, and we were basically working with what was left of the structure, but it was all on fire.
“We wanted to make sure we get the resources here so we can get on top of the fire, and our crews did a great job to ensure the fire did not spread any further and we were able to get it under control at those two adjacent homes.”
The whereabouts of the residents of the building at the centre which suffered the explosion is currently unknown, Oshell said, adding that it’s unclear whether there was anyone in the building at the time.
There were, however, residents in the two adjacent buildings.
“No known injuries or fatalities” have been reported, Oshell added.
Firefighters were still on the scene at approximately 10:30 a.m., but as soon as they are able to confirm there’s no further fire or danger from fire to area residents they planned on passing the investigation on to the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office and Greater Sudbury Police Service.
Members of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office were on the way, and Greater Sudbury police were already on the scene.
They are expected to determine the cause of the explosion and subsequent fire, which is currently unknown.
At the scene this morning, firefighters were seen removing items from the home to the left of the building which suffered the explosion, handing them to a family with young children.
“We’ve been working with the owner of that home to remove Christmas presents and personal belongings where we can so they can get into alternative accommodation,” Oshell said.
With their home uninhabitable, he said the owners’ insurance company was hiring a contractor to secure the structure by temporarily boarding it up. The fire had gone into the roof, and part of the structure is now missing. A boat and travel trailer have also been badly damaged.
Although there will need to be some repairs done to the house to the right, Oshell said it was deemed habitable and the family has been allowed back inside.
In the wake of Sudbury Professional Fire Fighters breaking news this morning about the fire on their Facebook page, a wave of condolences came in.
“That is so sad before Christmas,” one commenter wrote, with others hoping everyone was OK and expressing sympathy for the affected families.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
