Neighbouring communities open up ice times as Taber arena remains closed due to explosion

Investigation into an explosion at Taber Arena continues. Meanwhile, the support of neighbouring communities will allow hockey to play on.

As structural assessments continue following an explosion at the Taber arena Wednesday afternoon, the local hockey association has been overwhelmed by support for its players.

“It almost seemed like it was a bad dream,” said Taylor Gouw, vice-president of the Taber Minor Hockey Association.

“For as long as I can remember, it’s been my second home.”

Around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, an explosion in the small ice arena Zamboni room caused significant damage to an interior wall, forcing the community centre to close.

“The force of the explosion caused extensive damage within the arena and the curling club,” said Taber fire chief Steve Munshaw.

“As a result of the explosion, interior walls were displaced. Large doors were blown out of their jams and frames, glass shattered and concrete block walls were cracked. Debris was spread throughout the affected areas, and damage to the arena roof also occurred. Damage to gas lines was also identified.”

The blast resulted in gas and water lines being shut off while crews complete structural and safety assessments.

A majority of the community centre will remain closed until structural assessments can be done.

The Aquafun Centre is unaffected and has reopened to the public.

“At this stage, we do not yet know when or if the ice surfaces or curling rink will be usable for the remainder of the season,” said Derrin Thibault, CAO with the Town of Taber.

“Those determinations depend entirely on the results of ongoing structural, mechanical and safety assessments.”

As the news broke, Gouw and the hockey association began to scramble with what to do, but he says that’s when neighbouring communities stepped in.

“On Wednesday night, we didn’t even know what the situation was, but we had over 12 surrounding communities reach out to us and say, ‘hey, we got ice. We got this. Let’s keep your season going’,” he said.

“It just touched my heart – it touches all of our hearts.”

One of those communities lending a hand is Bow Island, a town about 60 km east of Taber.

“I’ve been working with Taber minor hockey and third-party rentals to secure ice times during the week and weekends,” said Kaylee Hurt, recreation facilitator with the Town of Bow Island.

“A loss of a facility and the programming associated with it is a significant hardship on any community and so we want to be there wherever we can to assist.”

Losing a facility

Other towns stepping in to help out know first-hand the impact losing a recreational facility can have.

“A couple years ago, our ice plant went down at the end of the season and we had other communities stepping up to help out so obviously we’re happy to return the favour,” said Vauxhall mayor Kim Cawley.

“We’re all in this together. We all have kids or families that are skating and playing hockey or just doing sports in general and so when we can, it’s really important to be there for each other.”

While hockey practices and games will continue outside of town, contractors and investigators are combing through the rumble to find an exact cause.

The fire department says no one was hurt.

“It’s miraculous and a miracle that nobody was in this building at that time,” said Munshaw.

The Town of Taber’s facilities management and operations team has taken command of the incident and is working to identify the cause of the blast.

“I know this community of Taber, I know that we have such big support and it shows during the tough times,” said Gouw.