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Investigators with the Calgary fire department and occupational health and safety have been called in following an explosion that forced several blocks of Macleod Trail southeast to be shut down Thursday morning.
CFD public information officer, Alex Kwan, said the call came in at 7:50 a.m. to an Enmax work site, located underground, at the intersection of Macleod Trail and 14 Avenue southeast.
“When our crews got on scene it looks like there was no active fire, but there were reports of five crew members working here,” Kwan said.
Two people were working underground and three were working above ground and all of them were able to evacuate the area on their own, Kwan added.
Video shot from the Global News helicopter showed emergency crews surrounding an open manhole in the area with a ladder extending down into the manhole.
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An aerial view of an industrial incident on Macleod Trail in Calgary on Thursday morning shows emergency responders surrounding a manhole in the roadway.
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“What we got from the crews initially is that they did have visible flames coming out of the hole for a quick second as they got themselves out. So it was more like a quick flash of fire,” Kwan said.
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Two of the workers were taken to Foothills Hospital and one to the Sheldon Chumir.
The fifth was accessed at the scene and did not require further treatment.
Paramedics are seen treating a worker at the scene of an explosion in southeast Calgary early Thursday morning.
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Kwan said investigators are now trying to determine the cause of the explosion and police warned that the area would be shut down for several hours.
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An industrial incident forced Calgary police to shut down several blocks of Macleod Trail during the busy morning rush hour.
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