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A gas-line explosion that “went off like a bomb” shattered a quiet morning in Virden Friday, destroying one house, severely damaging another and sending one man to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Around 9 a.m., an employee from Manitoba Hydro’s Brandon dispatch was sent to Thompson Place following a complaint about a “natural gas smell.”
The caller “believed that he may have hit a gas line while pounding some metal stakes into the ground” while building a fence, according to Manitoba Hydro spokesman Scott Powell.
Shortly thereafter, there was an explosion that startled townspeople in neighbourhoods near and far.
“It went off like a bomb,” said one resident. “It shook windows and doors all over town.”
Manitoba Hydro said their employee was on the scene minutes after the explosion happened. He was not injured, but he was “shaken, but thankfully is otherwise OK — a little bit singed, I understand.” Powell said. There were additional Hydro crews on the scene to help emergency personnel.
The Wallace and District Fire Department arrived at the scene minutes after the explosion.
Wendy Hunt lives two houses down from the explosion. She and her husband were eating breakfast when they heard a big boom.
“We went flying down the stairs, went outside and the one man from Hydro called to us and told us to phone 911, and by that time the house was in flames,” Hunt said.
One man was trapped in the basement of the house.
“The roof was on top of him, and they just basically got rid of all the lumber and household stuff on top of him and pulled him out with their bare hands,” fire Chief Brad Yochim said.
The man was rushed to Virden hospital.
One firefighter who helped dig the man out was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion.
As of noon Friday he was still in the hospital under observation but was fine, said Yochim.
A news release from the RCMP said two officers were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Frank Debarr’s house next door to the explosion was severely damaged when it caught fire from the explosion.
“You hear this on the news but you never think it would happen to you,” Debarr said while standing on the street looking at what was left of his house. He was still clearly in shock from the morning’s events.
Debarr and his family have a place to stay, but they’ll have to replace most of their belongings.
Virden Mayor Jeff McConnell was impressed with the prompt response of emergency crews, having heard their sirens go off minutes after the explosion.
“I’ll tell you when I was watching some of it (the fire department) clearly working very hard to save (Hunt’s house). That one was in danger of getting lost as well, but they did manage to save it,” McConnell said.
For Hunt, this wasn’t her first house explosion. She has lived on the street for 20 years but had previously lived in the Northwest Territories.
“We had a house down the block from us blow from a gas line also. So we’ve seen it before. And they were building a fence, so we just put two and two together and thought, uh-oh, somebody’s ruptured the line,” Hunt said.
“… I was right in my house and all of a sudden, boom, so loud, I thought my house is coming down on me,” said Margaret Rempel, three lots down.
Some residents in the area were told to stay in their houses or yards as flames and smoke could be seen billowing from the home.
“My heart’s just pounding, it’s just unreal, very unreal. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Rempel, who has lived on the street for 27 years.
Christina Oberlin works at the Virden Pioneer Home Museum, which is located a few blocks from the explosion. When she felt the museum shake, she went outside to see what was happening.
“All the neighbours were already in the street, nobody really knew what happened. And then a couple of minutes later there was a whole bunch of black smoke in the sky, so it was a little scary,” Oberlin said.
Courtesy of winnipegfreepress.com
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