Explosion



The house on the right was the house fire the night before the explosion



What a week we have had.  As many of you already know, if there is anyone out there who reads my blog, that there was an explosion in Regina, in the south end of the city, on my street, 3 doors down from my house.  Yup...It is a morning I don't want to re-live EVER again, but seem to be doing just that on a daily basis in my brain. 

It all started at 5:30am, Sunday, April 10th.  There were sirens, lots of fire engine sirens, 6 to be exact.  And there was a fire at a house kinda kiddy corner from us, we could throw a rock and hit it, but we wouldn't do that.  It seemed like they had the fire under control, and no one knew what caused it, it was still under investigation.  Some might have assumed it was a pot house and they had a grow op in the basement, but you know what happens when you assume....The fire investigators came and went, and the day went on. 

Monday morning comes around, a day we were supposed to be getting ready to go to my nanny's memorial in Yorkton, she passed away April 7th. We were to have showers, do our hair, get dressed up, but not really dressed up...4:30am, my husband is up, calling out my name, later to find out he heard a loud bang, and thought something was going on outside.  I thought he was having a nightmare, then I heard him lose it.  "ARA, Oh MY GOSH, A HOUSE EXPLODED"  In a tone of voice that sends shivers through me as I type this.  I opened my eyes to realize it wasn't our house, thank God.  Then I thought it was the house that had the fire the night before, you know, maybe trying to get rid of evidence of a grow op!??  Just kidding.  I also still thought he was having a nightmare as I was coming out to the kitchen.  He was dialing 911 and FREAKING out, and I was trying to tell him he was having a nightmare (which he never does, so I don't know why I thought that) until he went outside....then I saw it...The house beside the one on fire the night before, was engulfed in flames!!!  I have a video, that was later aired on CTV news Regina. 

My husband proceeded to get dressed (which means threw pants & a jacket on) and run over to see if there was anything he could do, and I stayed at home, in and out of the house, consoling Noah, who was also awaken by his daddy's screaming.  The fire trucks got to the scene finally, about 4-5 minutes after the explosion happened.  We watched, and I got dressed (which means threw pants & a jacket on) and walked down periodically too, also trying to comfort Noah who was inside the house.  Convinced Noah to go back to sleep, and went back outside to talk with neighbours and my hubby.  About 5:30am, a guy came running out of his house, about 3 doors down the other way, to say his house was on fire as well.  Then, the fire crew decided it was best if we ALL got out of our houses, NOW.  Went back in, and woke all the kids up, told them to get shoes on, and grab jackets, we needed to GET OUT NOW.  So scary!!! I still had my cell phone, thank goodness, was able to call family later in the morning. We ran down the street, away from the fires, away from the comfort of our warm home, wondering if we were ever going to get back to it, wondering if what was going on was going to affect our home. 

After about an hour and a half of standing on the street, seemed like forever, about a block from our house, a city bus came to our rescue, for warmth. 

Then about a half hour later, the salvation Army bus came with coffee, juice, hot chocolate, crackers and cheese, fruit-os for the kids, soup and sandwiches if we wanted.

We still had to get ready for a funeral, and we weren't too sure how that was going to happen.  We were evacuated from our house with no sign of returning.  They wanted to make sure that our houses were clear of natural gas, which is what they figured out was the problem.  As the time ticked by, and Radio stations, and news stations came and interviewed us, and we saw that the fires were under control, I went and begged a police officer to let us get in and get ready so we could leave to the funeral.  We didn't want to go to it in our PJ's.  After a few minutes of checking with the firemen, he said we could go in, we had 5 minutes to get dressed, and grab what we needed to be on our way.  He asked what house, I said 915, and he said, "oh ya, I was just in that house".  Um, ok.

The day went on, we were able to get going on our way to Yorkton.  Gave our cell #'s to our neighbour, and a house key so he could lock up when they were all done checking for natural gas leaks.  Throughout the day we got a few calls from him with updates, and he mentioned we'd be able to go back in around 6pm, with a uniformed officer.  Thank goodness we were away, not sure what we would have done, in our pj's on the street all day.  We got home at 6pm, but our neighbour had already gone through our house with a uniformed officer and it was cleared, and we were able to go home when we got back to the city.  A few of our neighbours never had heat turned on until nearly midnight.  Thanks to some of our church neighbours who offered us to hang out if we needed to, and who let us use their bathroom, and thanks to those who prayed, and offered to help in anyway.  We could use prayers still, as a few of our children are afraid to go downstairs, and they've all been sleeping in one room, upstairs.  My husband is having trouble sleeping as well, every time he tries to close his eyes, the whole scene plays out in his mind. 

We later found out that the people (in their 70's) escaped, and that the woman was BLOWN out of her house and was able to go across the street to a neighbours house.  She is currently in an induced coma, due to pain.  The man was treated and released.

I also had a birthday last week, I was spoiled with love that day in so many ways by my family.  More on that another post.

My nanny, in her healthier years.

She was stricken with Alzheimer's disease about the time her first grand baby was born, which is so sad, she loved babies and kids, she worked in a Nursery at a hospital in her younger years.  She passed away on what would have been her husbands 83rd birthday, and about 3 hours after her baby (youngest son) came to say goodbye (which he wasn't going to do).  She is no longer in pain, and no longer suffering!