Ottawa neighbourhood devastated by massive explosion

Explosion rocks Orleans neighborhood CTV's Katie Griffin live on the scene as families share their harrowing stories of an early morning explosion.

With everyone accounted for after a massive explosion at an east Ottawa construction site Monday morning that injured 12 people, officials are now turning to the investigation into how this could have happened.

Meanwhile, residents who have been displaced by the blast are now figuring out where to stay. Some are staying with family, others are being put up in hotel rooms with help from the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. The developer, Minto, has also opened model homes to displaced residents.

Officials evacuated everyone within a 300-metre radius; however, the exact number of people affected remains unknown and there is no word on when people can return.

"People here, as night started to fall, were getting a little more anxious to know if they would be able to return to their homes," said Catherine Kitts, the city councillor for the area. "All the services have been cut to this subdivision have been cut while the investigation is ongoing so the majority of people that are in this area, even if they didn't have damage to their homes, are not going to be able to return there this evening."

Firefighters rescued two people from the rubble at a new development on Tenth Line Road near Harvest Valley Avenue in Orléans after a gas leak caused the explosion, officials said.

One of them was rescued about an hour after the explosion and the other was rescued about three hours later some distance away. Both were taken to the Ottawa Hospital trauma centre in serious but stable condition. The extent of the injuries is still not fully known.

The explosion at 6:18 a.m. took out several homes under construction at a Minto development called Avalon Vista. It blew out windows at nearby homes and scattered bits of insulation into nearby streets and yards. Residents several kilometres away heard the blast.

Along with the two people rescued from the rubble, four other people were hospitalized, paramedics said. Two of them are children and were taken to CHEO. Two adult were taken to other area hospitals.

The other six people paramedics treated were released at the scene.

“This is an incredibly distressing event for people in the east end. It was felt widely, especially for those in close proximity to where the blast occurred,”Kitts told reporters earlier in the day.

Ottawa Fire Services deputy chief Dave Matschke said the four homes destroyed were at 305, 307, 309 and 311 Blossom Pass Terrace. The area is a new development under construction, but some residents have already moved into recently-completed homes.

In a statement, Minto president Brent Strachan confirmed the gas leak and explosion and said staff members were on scene to help.

"Minto team members are on-site to address the needs of impacted community members and we have opened our model homes to keep evacuated residents warm and comfortable," he said. "We are working with authorities to identify the cause of the explosion and fully cooperating in the investigation."

Along with Ottawa police and fire, Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Technical Standards and Safety Authority, and Fire Marshal's office are investigating.

Family and friends looking for loved ones or who couldn't access their homes were told to meet at the Minto Office at 2370 Tenth Line Rd., officials said. Anyone whose home suffered minor damage should contact their insurance company, fire officials said.

The Salvation Army and Canadian Red Cross have been called in to help those affected. Enbridge was on scene Monday afternoon working to shut off the gas supply, fire officials said.

Some nearby residents told CTV News they thought the explosion was an earthquake. One said the roof of their garage collapsed due to the force of the blast.

"We just heard a very loud noise. We didn't know what was happening. The entire house just woke up and we went outside," said Yvette Ashiri. "I still feel the vibration in my body. It's very scary."

“My windows in the house opened up due to the shockwave, and even the hinges on the door, they just came off,” said Sandeep Saini.

Many others woke up to find their driveways and lawns littered with bits of insulation from the blast.

The scene of the blast is about 20 kilometres east of downtown Ottawa.

Ottawa police A/Insp. Amy Bond did not provide specifics on the number of people evacuated or how many homes were damaged, but said the scene is “quite large.”

“We’re going to be here throughout the evening and into tomorrow,” she said.

“The blast was so intense. People from all over the east end felt it,” Kitts said.

There have been reports the blast was felt and heard even farther afield. William Guvin in Chapel Hill South about five kilometres from the blast zone, said he felt his house shake.

"The door of the bathroom started shaking, the door opened and I was kind of spooked," he said. "It didn't click in until a friend texted me, did you see the explosion?"

Guvin's mother Julie said the house rattled Monday morning.

"I didn't think earthquake, but it felt like that," she said.

Another indication of how powerful the blast was is that an earthquake monitor detected what it called a seismic event as far away as Carleton Place, around 70 km away.

Kitts says as investigators work to determine what happened, the conversation will become how to prevent it from happening again.

"I think that's really where the conversation is going to go in the days and weeks and months ahead, is what happened here and how are we going to ensure it doesn't happen at any other site," she told the CTV News at 6. "There are construction sites across the city, so I think there's a lot of anxiety about that."