Zoning Questions Follow Fire, Explosions at Toronto Propane Yard

Boom after boom after boom, the successive blasts rattled homes, blowing doors off their hinges, shattering windows and leaving residents huddled in fear as giant balls of fire burst in the night sky and propane tanks were ejected several kilometres away.

The series of predawn explosions at a 24-hour propane dealer rocked the area immediately raising questions about the proximity of such a facility to a residential area.

'We knew it was a danger zone from day one,' said Vicki Arciero, one of several community members who had complained to the city of the presence of the propane facility near her home, in the north end of Toronto.

'It shouldn't have been put in a residential area. It should not have been there. Nobody did a damn thing. Nobody. And now the damage is done.'

Mayor David Miller said that the city would review how residences came to be so close to a propane yard. 'This facility was allowed under zoning that has been there for well over a decade,' Mr. Miller said."