Hamilton fire responds to two explosions Thursday morning; 3 people hospitalized

Fire crews responded to separate explosions on the Mountain and in the city's east end Wednesday morning. Three people are in hospital — two with serious injuries — following two separate house explosions in different areas of Hamilton on Thursday morning. Fire crews were first called to a home on Springside Drive, near Upper James Street and Twenty Road East, around 7:30 a.m.

“The first arriving crew as they got into the scene reported that they had a large debris field. As well, they were confirming there was an explosion,” Fire Chief David Cunliffe said in an afternoon update. “We had a fire burning in what was a garage, we believe, that had exploded.” Cunliffe said one person was found with burns and was transported to hospital with serious injuries.

He said the injured person was believed to be inside the garage at the time of the explosion. The fire was brought under control but he said two neighbouring homes in the area were “significantly damaged.” “The fire did not reach the other two adjacent buildings, there’s blast damage to the buildings, a number of the windows were blown out. We also have some potential structural damage in both homes,” he said, adding that a few other homes had lesser forms of damage.

Damage after a house explosion on Springside Drive in Hamilton on Oct. Around 90 minutes later, around 9 a.m., fire crews were called to another house explosion and fire on Lampton Place, near Brampton Street and Parkdale Avenue North. The first arriving crew confirmed that a single-story residence fire that was “well involved” and it’s believed there was an explosion inside the home.

Two occupants were rescued by neighbours and were outside of the home when crews arrived. The fire chief said two neighbours and a person from a nearby building heard the explosion, entered the home and rescued the two elderly occupants who suffered burns. One person was transported to hospital in serious condition, and the other is considered to be in stable condition.

It took firefighters around 30 minutes to get the fire under control, however, Cunliffe said “part of the house has collapsed and has been significantly consumed by fire.” “We had some reports that neighbours had been smelling natural gas prior to that incident happening,” which he said is the primary focus for the investigation at this point. The approximate damage to the home is estimated at $750,000. The Ontario Fire Marshal’s office is investigating both explosions, and according to the fi…