Explosion rocks Wheatley, injures 20

By Mark Ribble

WHEATLEY — An explosion rocked downtown Wheatley on Thursday, August 26, sending at least seven people to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Dozens of emergency vehicles had converged on the village within a half-hour of the 6:15 pm blast. Ambulances were lined up along Talbot West near the Circle-K as they used that area for triage.

About 20 people were treated at the scene, with seven going to hospitals in Leamington, Windsor and Chatham.

Earlier Thursday afternoon — about 4:30 pm — gas monitor alarms went off, prompting Chatham-Kent Fire to put up those familiar roadblocks on Erie Street North near the four corners that residents have seen on two previous occasions.

Because of the high gas levels, evacuations were carried out immediately, which surely saved many lives.

Firefighters were doing gas level checks when the explosion occurred around 6:15 pm, levelling the former Pogue Irish Pub building and doing severe damage to the new Wheatley Hotel, Subway and MJ’s Pizza. Many other businesses and apartment dwellings are also damaged.

Aerial and ground hoses hit the debris with water on Friday morning. The water was still being applied on Monday.

SUN photos

Houses in the area felt the brunt of the blast as well, with debris landing on homes in the neighbourhood.

Windows were shattered all along Erie and Talbot Streets, including the entire front glass portion of Adamson Guardian Drugs.

Local residents were shocked and angry as they talked about the two states-of-emergency that were declared in June and July and subsequent evacuation orders.

“We’ve all had the feeling that this was inevitable,” said Kimberley Grant of the Wheatley BIA. “People are really upset.”

The townsfolk in Wheatley have been pretty vocal about the lack of answers and solutions since the two evacuations earlier this summer.

Chatham-Kent officials quickly set up a reception centre at Wheatley Area Arena where residents could check in. As of press time, the reception centre is still operating out of the arena, with an ATM machine set up so residents can access cash.

This pickup truck was tossed completely across Erie Street and landed in front of the Subway location.

Chatham-Kent CAO Don Shropshire expects the evacuees to be out of their homes and businesses until the threat of another explosion dissipates.

“Until the gas is subsided, we expect the area to be closed indefinitely,” he said.

Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff said they are calling upon the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) to step up.

“It’s unacceptable for the people of Wheatley to live in fear,” he said. “We’ve called upon the MNRF to find a solution.”

About 100 personnel were on scene Thursday night into Friday, ranging from municipal officials to fire, police and EMS.

The municipality has placed 15 households — consisting of about 33 people — in local hotels and motels and has provided assistance to about 85 households to date. They will help with food, housing and clothing for those who had to evacuate so suddenly.

“I can’t over-emphasize the amazing response from the first responders,” said Canniff.

The storefronts opposite 15 Erie St. North were badly damaged in the blast.

Fire Chief Chris Case said that he is also angry that firefighters and residents are still at risk.

“I have no idea how we can get in and stabilize the situation while this ongoing risk is emanating from the ground,” he said. “I’m quite angry that our firefighters keep returning to save lives on three occasions while we still have this ongoing risk.”

When asked if there was risk of another explosion, Case confirmed that the risk of another explosion “is very real.”

Meanwhile, the outpouring of concern for Wheatley residents came from all across the region, as numerous individuals and agencies jumped in to help those left homeless.

Lauren Anderson, of the Active Citizens of Wheatley, immediately started planning and as of Monday, the Wheatley Disaster Relief Fund GoFundMe page had raised almost $17,000. Mike and Erica Renwick, owners of Renny’s Village Smokehouse in Wheatley, could not get back into their business, so they turned their attention to helping others.

They reached out to their brother-in-law Len Janzen of the Leamington Regional Food Hub, and he took the ball and ran with it. Janzen contacted his friend Gelly Bodor of Fogz Logistics, who delivered a reefer-equipped semi trailer to Talbot Trail Golf Course Friday afternoon. Janzen had Bodor stop at the Food Hub first and fill up with skids full of fresh vegetables, bottled water, sports drinks and other food.

The Leamington Regional Food Hub trailer at Talbot Trail Gof Course was provided by Gelly Bodor of Fogz Logistics. Here, the team gets ready, with Lucas and Brody Renwick in the truck and from left, Mike Renwick, Lawrence Grubb, Susan Fulmer and Chelle Chatterton from Wheatley Food Bank, and Len Janzen from the Leamington Food Hub.

Wheatley is a small community that takes care of its own and that community spirit has shone through in the past several days.

Municipal officials met with representatives of the MNRF Saturday morning to convey the urgency of finding the source of the hydrogen sulphide that’s believed to be the cause of the explosion.

The province plans on bringing in technical experts to assess the situation and how it can be fixed.

Firefighters remained on the scene Monday, still dousing the rubble with water in hopes of reducing the chance of another explosion.

As of Monday, there was still one Chatham-Kent employee recovering in hospital.

This storefront on Erie Street North sustained a lot of broken glass, as did many of the downtown businesses and apartments.