Body found in rubble following Scarborough house explosion
Posted November 14, 2023 12:17 pm.
Last Updated November 14, 2023 2:30 pm.
A body has been discovered in the wreckage of a house in Scarborough that was levelled in an explosion over the weekend.
Crews were called to the home on Kitchener Road, near Kingston Road and Lawrence Avenue East, just after 11:30 a.m. Sunday after getting reports of a fire and explosion. In an update on Tuesday afternoon, fire officials confirmed they found a body in the rubble.
“There will be significant investigative work to confirm the identity of the remains located today,” said Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, speaking to reporter alongside Ontario’s fire marshal.
Witnesses and neighbours reported seeing a man, believed to be the homeowner, inside the home at the time of Sunday’s blast. Pegg says that individual remains unaccounted for.
Emergency crews brought in heavy equipment to slowly remove the debris and assist them with their search on Monday. Recovery efforts were called off on Monday night before crews returned to the blast site on Tuesday morning.
No other injuries were reported and officials said adjacent homes were largely unaffected by the explosion. One firefighter had minor injuries and was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown. The Ontario Fire Marshal (OFM) says investigators are working to identify a fuel source that would have caused the blast, and so far are not ruling anything out.
“The investigation is ongoing,” said Fire Marshal Jon Pegg. “It will involve forensic testing and modelling, so that will take sometime.”
Crews and investigators are expected to remain at the site for the rest of the week.
Police called to same address last month, SIU investigating
Police were called to the same home a few weeks ago and say there was an interaction between police and a man that is now being probed by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
A SIU spokesperson tells CityNews that incident took place at around 10:30 a.m. on October 23.
Toronto Police Service officers responded to the home to assist a bylaw officer with a man who was armed and aggressive.
“TPS officers became involved in an interaction with the 62-year-old man, and multiple officers deployed their conducted energy weapons,” the SIU said.
The man was apprehended and later taken to hospital after complaining of being in pain.
