Major explosion in Mississauga

Three injured, dozens evacuated after explosion at Mississauga strip mall
Police have shut down Hurontario St. from Dundas St. to Hillcrest Ave. in both directions, and are asking nearby residents to keep their windows closed; Five people were assessed for injuries and three, including a child, were taken to hospital.

Update (Feb. 11, 3:30 p.m.) Five people — including a child — were assessed for injuries and dozens have been displaced after a building exploded, rocking the streets of Mississauga Sunday morning.

Emergency crews rushed to a strip plaza connected to a residential building in the Dundas St. West and Hurontario St. area just before 7:30 a.m. The building that exploded is located right next to Thomas L. Kennedy Secondary School.

Firefighters continued to fight the blaze into Sunday afternoon and clouds of thick smoke hid the full extent of the damage.

Mississauga’s fire chief Tim Beckett told media on scene that half the plaza had collapsed and there was structural damage to apartment buildings nearby. Police initially said that the strip plaza contained only commercial businesses that had been affected by the blast, but they soon discovered that an apartment building was attached in the back of the plaza.

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Beckett said Mississauga’s fire marshal is waiting to get to the centre of the fire.
“We have a live natural gas line that is burning and we’re working with Enbridge now to get that gas line shut down. The investigation itself won’t start until some time tomorrow so it’s going to be quite some time.”

Fire services say that a search and rescue team is at the site of the explosion but, because they still can’t safely access the building, they can’t yet say whether anyone else has been injured.

Neighbours described an “earthquake” early this morning, and across the street, panes of glass were blown out of the windows of a clinic, and a health food store.

“Someone was saying a car jumped,” one man said as he surveyed the scene, emergency lights flashing amid the opaque clouds of grey smoke.

(Metro Toronto)

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