Non-Stop Explosions Rock Toronto

BEGINNING AT 4 AM SUNDAY, A ROLLING SERIES OF AT LEAST 60 EXPLOSIONS at a propane storage facility in Toronto, Ontario have been taxing the resources of the fire and police departments.

National Post

The Sunrise Propane Co. stores and distributes a number of highly-flammable industrial gasses including propane and acetylene, along with other pressurized gasses like oxygen and nitrogen.

The event started with a series of explosions starting a massive fire in the complex and continuing for the next five hours as fire crews lobbed master streams onto still-intact tanks in an effort to keep them cool and uninvolved. The cause of the first explosion is not yet known. So far, seven alarms have been struck.

Toronto police Sgt. Dan Martin said, “There’s a possibility there were people in the building, but nothing is confirmed. We won’t know until the situation has calmed down. Until the fire is out we won’t be able to get in there to investigate.” So far there are no reports of fatalities and two people have been treated for injuries. The area hospitals have been put on stand-by alert for the possibility of an influx of casualties.

Highway 401, Canada’s busiest road, has been closed in a three kilometre radius south of the explosion in both directions.
Police have also established a “no fly zone,” for the area. Currently a mass evacuation in a 1/2 mile perimeter is being conducted. Public transit busses are ferrying residents away from the area and many large hotels nearby have opened their doors to the evacuees.

This is an ongoing incident and will be updated throughout the morning.

Update, 11:00 am:
The Sunrise Propane facility operates 24-hrs. a day and there were people working there at the time of the blast.

The Canadian Press is estimating that as many as 12,500 people live within the evacuation zone.

Division Commander Bob O’Hallarn of Toronto Fire said that firefighters are trying to cool at least two propane rail tankers to keep them from exploding. The tankers — which are venting — can hold up to 220,000 litres of propane, but it isn’t known if they are full, he said.

Update, 11:15 am
A home video showing a non-stop stream of explosions viewed from an apartment balcony: