Arson unit probing fire, explosion in Greely

CTV Ottawa: Greely explosion and fire CTV's Katie Griffin reports on the explosion at a property in Greely, where neighbours say a vehicle was seen fleeing right after the blast.

The Ottawa Police Arson unit is leading the investigation into a fire and explosion on Stagecoach Road in Greely, about 30 minutes south of downtown Ottawa Thursday night.

A barn, house and another structure in the 1900 block of Stagecoach Road went up in flames around 8:30 p.m. following what local residents described as a loud "boom."

"Just a huge bang. It sounded like someone ran into the roof with something. The roof felt like it had collapsed," said Tim Herbert, a resident who lives less than one kilometer from the scene.

Herbert told CTV Ottawa the explosion "shook his house."

Ottawa Fire and the Ontario Fire Marshal are also investigating. Sifting through the massive debris field could take a few days, said Det. Greg Wilson with the arson unit.

Ottawa Fire conducted a primary search of the area and found no injured individuals.

Spokesman Marc Messier said the buildings appeared vacant, but that there were "some appliances" in one of the buildings.

Many residents took to Twitter saying they could feel the explosions from tens of kilometers away from the scene. Glenn Powers lives approximately 25 kilometers away in Edwards. He said  the explosion sounded like a cannon going off, or a transformer exploding.

"Probably more like a large cannon, like something really, really loud. You could tell it was quite far away, too," he said at the scene.

"It was surprising to hear something that loud. I was kind of worried."