With the extent of devastation left by the huge explosions at Sunrise Propane’s Toronto facility just before dawn on August 10, it’s almost a miracle that residents of the surrounding neighbourhood came out with only minor injuries from the blast.

Some experts say the timing has made a huge difference. The first explosion happened around 4 A.M. on a Sunday morning when most people are still asleep in their bedrooms.

[Watch: COS visits Sunrise blast site]

“It was sheer stroke of luck,” says John Saunders, provincial director of the disaster management program at Canadian Red Cross. “There was nobody on the street, (otherwise) that could have been devastating.”

While the damage could have been far worse, the explosions did claim the life of at least two individuals: veteran firefighter Bob Leek, who died from a heart attack while performing response operations on the site, and a still unidentified person whose body was found at the blast site hours after the explosions, and believed to be that of a missing Sunrise employee.

Saunders says the quick response by Toronto Fire Services were a huge factor in the containment of the fire and prevention of what could have resulted to more serious, even fatal, injuries.

“This type of incident could have very easily escalated with more multiple explosions had they not (acted) quickly on the scene. The professionalism that I saw from Toronto Fire is bar none,” says Saunders, whose team has been working with other organizations to provide shelter and clean-up assistance to area residents affected by the blast.

Emergency response
In emergency situations, the ability of responders to make quick decisions could spell the difference between life and death.

Andrew Kostiuk, division commander for Toronto Fire Services’ South Command, says coordination among concerned agencies is key to an effective emergency response operation.

At the onset of the blast, police and ambulance were on the site to secure the area of the fire, evacuate affected residents and assess and treat them for injuries, Kostiuk says.

Propane experts from the Technical Standards and Safety Authority were also brought in to provide advice on controlling propane leaks and spills. With advise from the TSSA, firefighters at the blast site effectively burned off the remaining propane to prevent further explosions.

When the possibility of asbestos presence was brought to the attention of Toronto Fire hours into the event, the need to consult with an external asbestos specialist also became apparent.

“Once these incidents get to be beyond fire explosion and the normal type of emergency that (firefighters) respond to, you have to rely on outside specialists. And … you have to do a little bit of legwork to determine who’s going to advise you on these things so you can take the proper action afterwards,” Kostiuk says.

Coordinating with various agencies in an emergency situation also has its challenges, however, and most of them have to do with communication delays, Kostiuk says.

“The fire services is used to being a pretty self-contained group for fighting fires and we usually deal with stuff in matters of hours, and decisions are made quickly,” he explains. “Once you get into consulting with outside agencies, government agencies, private contractors, the whole thing starts to take days instead of hours to make decisions as you get information back.”

Two command areas were established immediately after the incident: the first was for fire control operations on the site, and the second was a joint command centre for police and ambulance coordinating evacuation, security and sheltering issues for people affected by the disaster.

The joint command centre also served as the emergency responders’ access to other Toronto Services such as public health and other allied agencies. Business cycle meetings were held at this command centre every half hour at the beginning and then every hour as the fire containment progresses.

The City of Toronto also established an emergency operations centre involving council representatives, the mayor’s representatives and senior officers from Toronto Fire. Media releases and public information were coordinated from this centre.

“That went on for a fair number of hours during the event, including over Sunday night and into early Monday morning. And that was by the time we actually have flared off all of the propane and it was safe then to consider the fire out,” Kostiuk says.

(Next: Blast aftermath)