Surprised no-one mentioned this yet...

bace · Aug 12, 2008

bout 4am on Sunday morning a propane filling station in North Toronto went up in smoke.

this is an amazing vid that cought the shockwave from one of the explosions.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view...d=5233005518492988001&iid=5233005523981469138

one firefighter died and another man that works at the station is missing (likely vaporized) other than that 60 people had minor injuries and the 8 with farely serious injuries were released from hospital later that afternoon.

if you do some googling you'll see some pictures of the station being right accross the street from major residential area. city planning at it's finest.

the station was built 5 years ago. the houses 50 years old. how the hell did a propane filling station get to be located that close to houses?

nealjpage · Aug 13, 2008

Eh? City planning, you say?

What would you like to know about zoning? Maybe I can help clarify things ;-)

Senor Hound · Aug 13, 2008

nealjpage said:
Eh? City planning, you say?

What would you like to know about zoning? Maybe I can help clarify things ;-)

I think is question was, "Why are there buildings so close to places with large amounts of highly-pressurized, combustible liquid gas?"

I'm thinking Canada has plenty of space to do their dirty work away from human activity. I mean, here in the US, we bury our radioactive waste in the desert. And we try and keep our refineries as far away from human noses as possible.

janetm1000 · Aug 13, 2008

yeah, i know someone from that area! they could see the explosion from their bedroom window and evacuated their house. thankfully they are ok!

nealjpage · Aug 13, 2008

I'm guessing that the use was a permitted use in the zone. That's not to say that it was the proper place for a facility of that type. In the States, property rights seem to rule, so it's hard to prohibit someone from using property according to zoning regulations. So even if I CAN put an iron smelting plant next to a residential neighborhood, decency tells me that I shouldn't. But I'm not a land baron...

bace · Aug 14, 2008

$900 Million Class action filled today against the city and the regulatory board that approved the placement of the station.

Antarctican · Aug 14, 2008

NJP, you're right that supposedly it was a 'permitted use', at least in the early stages when the facility was just filling people's BBQ propane tanks. It then took on a bigger 'propane storage' function. At least that's what the media is reporting.

And it was just a matter of time 'til the class action suit was commenced. I'm not surprised at that in the least.

spiffybeth · Aug 14, 2008

anty, how close were you to the explosion?

Antarctican · Aug 14, 2008

Many miles. I'm at the extreme south end of the City, and the explosion was in the north end.

I saw some footage of the explosions, and it was terrifying how high the fireball went. The 'boom' was heard many miles away. 12,000 people were evacuated. Many homes and businesses (and schools!) with windows blown out. People ran from their homes (it was a 4 am blast) without clothes, without dentures, without any money etc. Terrible stuff. But by Monday night/Tuesday, just about everyone was back home and assessing the damage (if they were in the immediate area. The people further out had been evacuated just as a precaution)

Chiller · Aug 14, 2008

Every time I look out my back yard, I think on the other side of the railway tracks are massive flamable chemical bins from a company called Rohm and Haas. If they were to blow, my house would be flattened. The company was there long before the residence were built, but back then, I dont think zoning was a big issue.
Rohm and Haas, makes the base for floor varnishes. There are about 20 of these flamable tanks. A few years back, another company called USE Hickson wen Kaboom. We were evacuated from our house for the day, cause of the toxic fumes. Now...the company has been rebuilt like nothing happened, and has changed names. Go figure.

As for this explosion, I was far enough away, to sleep through the whole thing.

Oh...and yeah, I knew they were there when I bought the house, so I know the risk.

spiffybeth · Aug 14, 2008

chiller, its time to move.

Chiller · Aug 14, 2008

spiffybeth said:
chiller, its time to move.

If I had a scanner, I would post some of the pics from the last explosion. I hopped the fence in my back yard and ran like Carl Freekin Lewis down the railway tracks. I fired off a few shots, before this Poh_leece officer in some fancy garb told me to get lost. :lol: