The remnants of a home on Pine St. are spread all over neighbouring properties, including a cemetery, after an explosion late in the evening on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022.

By Jordan Davidson

big bang

Top Stories of 2022: House explosion rocks downtown Nanaimo

Dec 31, 2022 | 9:13 AM

NANAIMO — One of the most memorable moments in 2022 for Nanaimo was when a house exploded in early February, with the shockwave being felt across the city.

On Sunday, February 27 around 8:20 p.m., a home in the 300 block of Pine St. beside St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church exploded, sending debris onto Pine St. and all over the church’s cemetery.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue, BC Emergency Health Services, Fortis BC and BC Hydro were all on scene along with Nanaimo RCMP, saying luckily there was no one inside when the home blew up.

A BC Emergency Health Services official on scene told NanaimoNewsNOW six people were injured in the blast with four treated on scene and two transported to hospital with non-life threatening, superficial injuries.

A spokesperson for Fortis BC said via an email no cause for the explosion has been identified as of that night.

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“The explosion did result in damage to the natural gas meter and gas blowing from it and our crews isolated the meter and brought gas under control safely and as quickly as possible.” Diana Sorace said. “Our crews remain on site to assist emergency personnel as needed.”

Remnants of the explosion were noticeable for weeks after as investigators worked to try and determine a cause. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Neighbours said the home had been used for some illegal activities in the past, and a group of squatters had recently been moved out, with the house apparently being fixed up for a family to move in.

The previous tenants of the home were evicted by the landlord a month prior.

Lisa Cook lives on Pine St., across the road and just 50 metres from the site of the explosion and was home with her mother at the time.

The force of the blast rocked the pair off their living room couch.

“Before we know it, we’re on the floor. We didn’t want to get up because we thought maybe the roof was going to collapse, we thought it was a bomb.”

Well over a dozen houses in the neighbourhood sustained visible damage, with reports of blown windows and damaged doors.

In the week following the explosion, investigators remained on scene trying to determine the exact cause.

While natural gas is believed to have played a role in providing the fuel for the fire, what set it off has yet to be determined.

“When we arrived on scene there was a huge smell (of natural gas) right after the explosion and as we’ve carried on with our investigation,” said Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien with the Nanaimo RCMP. “Evidence has come to light that we believe there was criminal activity involved.”

The investigation into the house explosion is still ongoing, with the cause still yet to be determined and no charges have yet been laid.

The area around the exploded house is still fenced off as of Dec 29, 2022, with the neighbouring house remains boarded up. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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