A tragic anniversary: one year since house explosion in Kitchener

Neighbourhood still healing after blast From CTV Kitchener's Nicole Lampa: A family and neighbourhood are still healing after a devastating blast in Kitchener last year.

The effects are still being felt by many a year after a devastating house explosion.

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the house explosion in Kitchener’s Forest Heights neighbourhood.

Police say they later determined that 58-year-old Edra Haan died prior to the explosion on Sprucedale Crescent.

Husband Udo Haan was airlifted with critical injuries and later arrested in connection to the incident and Edra’s murder. He was denied bail earlier this year and is still going through a court process.

A home at 56 Sprucedale Crescent was demolished and two others significantly damaged as a cause of the explosion.

Neighbours say the home repairs to fix the damage are now close to being complete.

Edra Hann's brother, Al Pinheiro, brought flowers to the scene on Sprucedale Crescent Thursday.

"You look around, it's really different. But at the end of the day it still happened, right? Like a year has gone by, the pain isn't any better. It's still there," Pinheiro says.

He adds that he is impressed with how supportive the neighbours were in the months following the incident.

But a lot of the residents still have difficulty seeing the gaping hole that remains.

"It's a reminder for myself. We have three young kids, so it's a constant reminder to them of what happened. The gazebo and the shed is still standing out there, which is hard to see," says Theresa Fonseca, who lives on the street.

Udo Haan's preliminary hearing starts next month.