ALEXANDRA POSADZKI

WOODSTOCK, Ont. - Seven people remain unaccounted for after a fiery explosion reduced an apartment building to crushed bricks and charred wood in Woodstock, Ont., on Sunday.


With a large part of the three-storey building now turned to a pile of smoldering rubble, police said the outlook for those missing was grim.

Videos: Woodstock Apartment Explosion

"If we don't have any fatalities, I'll be very surprised," Sgt. Marvin Massecar of Woodstock police said late in the afternoon.

Raging flames tore through the building after nearby residents reported hearing a thunderous explosion and feeling the ground shudder early Sunday morning. Plumes of black smoke could be seen from the distance as fire crews worked to douse the blaze.

At one point, it looked like much of the building's facade was consumed by roaring orange flames which caused much of the structure to crumble into a heap of bricks and twisted metal.

Seven people, including a firefighter, were injured in the blaze, police said. Six of those hurt were treated at Woodstock General Hospital and released. One person remained in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries

Lance Bicknell said police officers helped him and his wife climb down from their third-floor balcony.

Inside, "smoke was so thick, you couldn't see the walls," he told Toronto TV station CP24.

Another third-floor resident said he woke up on the first floor after the building had collapsed. He said he didn't understand how an explosion occurred because the building used electric heat.

Woodstock police Const. Steven McEwen said the middle portion of the building collapsed entirely. Police said they didn't know how many units were in the building, but about 30 firefighters were called in to battle the blaze.

Several homes across from the building were evacuated as a precaution, police said.

Lisa Woods, a spokesperson for Woodstock fire, said the building manager was setting up hotel accommodations for the several dozen residents who have been displaced.

Meanwhile, the Salvation Army set up food and drinks for the victims at a nearby Via Rail station.

Some residents were put on buses at the scene to wait for information on their units, while others went to a nearby Red Cross facility or to stay with family.

Donna Holst, 50, lives in an apartment above an animal hospital across the train tracks from the building. She said she heard the explosion from her home.

"We didn't know what the noise was," said Holst. "We thought it might have been from the animal hospital down below, and then realized when we saw the smoke outside the window that it was not."

Holst said she felt "shocked" and "afraid for all the people in the building" when she saw the thick, grey smoke.

She knows three residents of the building and said two were safe. She had not heard anything about the third, an elderly woman on the bottom floor.

The building's residents include a number of seniors and some low-income families, Holst said.

(The Canadian Press, CIHR)

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