Crews are tending to a fire at a home on the North Shore, which started when residents felt an explosion from hundreds of metres away.
The explosion happened in a shed behind a home at 370 Linden Avenue, just before 5:30 p.m. It drew neighbours onto the street on their front yards who get the rumble and were wondering what happened.
“I heard three explosions in a span of about 10 minutes. And felt all of it,” one woman told NL News.
Another man who lives on Linden Avenue says he heard the explosion from Willow Street, at least 1.5 kilometres away.
Jason Stachoski lives diagonally across the back alley from where the incident took place. “We noticed smoke coming from out if his shed, went and jumped the fence to try and get his attention. He tried to turn his hose on and his water wasn’t on. He went inside to turn it on and by the time he got inside it got big enough that something exploded and blew and the neighbour back like 10 feet in the backyard.” Stachoski says he and the neighbour took cover at the corner of the house.
Another wetness, Erica, lives about a block from where the incident occurred. “I heard boom. I stepped outside. I saw a black flame, a big plume of black smoke. Another fireball going up, and we jumped in the truck because both my husbands and I have medical training. And by the time we got here there were two more big balls going up.” She described the scene as looking like a volcanic eruption. “Out first thought was getting everyone away, is there anyone inside. The report form people here is that it was a shed and they had been over and nobody seemed to be there. But we just tried to keep the alley clear for emergency personnel.”
Smoke has been almost entirely knocked down and it appears fire crews have gotten a handle on the flames.
It’s also unclear how the fire started. Reports are that the family who lives at the home was able to get out safely.
NL News will provide more information as it becomes available.
With files from Brett Mineer & Colton Davies
Explosions and fire on Kamloops north shore Cedar and Linden. Shed fully involved. Fire crews on scene @RadioNLNews #kamloops pic.twitter.com/lNsPNBj89D
— Howie Reimer (@ReimerHowie) April 9, 2021
Witnesses report hearing several explosions at this fire on the #Kamloops North Shore. Unclear is an explosion started the fire or whether the explosions were the result of materials stored inside burning up. pic.twitter.com/oLb3aglUBl
— Brett Mineer (@MineerBrett) April 9, 2021
