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Officials say seven workers were transported to hospital with various injuries, some life-threatening, after a natural gas fire and reported explosion at a high-rise building in the city’s north end.
Toronto Fire Services division commander Paul O’Brien told reporters the incident happened at around 9:15 a.m. Tuesday inside of a utility boiler room on the “penthouse level” of a building under construction on Esther Shiner Boulevard, near Leslie Street just north of Highway 401.
“[It] was reported that there was a gas explosion and we had patients exhibiting signs of burns,” O’Brien said.
He added there were no signs of a fire when firefighters arrived but that they were met with “multiple patients” and requested additional crews from Toronto Paramedics. Fire officials previously told Global News firefighters encountered light smoke and remnants of fire damage.
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Chief of Toronto Paramedic Services Bikram Chawla said of the seven workers, three suffered minor injuries and four people suffered life-threatening injuries. They were all taken to various local hospitals and trauma centres. Sunnybrook hospital said it received five people from the incident.
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“These were injuries as a result of the explosion,” Chawla said, adding he would not elaborate on the exact type of injuries the workers sustained due to privacy.
When it comes to if all the injuries occurred inside the boiler room, O’Brien said that is unknown and will be part of the investigation.
It’s unclear what exactly caused the incident. An investigation is underway and the Ministry of Labour has been notified.
“We do not attend a lot of calls like this of serious nature in construction sites,” O’Brien said. “I cannot recall in the last couple years something to this nature.”
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