Crisis Management

DISASTER MANAGEMENT EXPLOSION ON JUNE 28, 2016

Approximately 700 homes were evacuated after a house located at 4201 Hickory Dr. was levelled by an explosion around 4:20 p.m. on June 28, 2016 leaving as many as 25 neighbouring residences damaged and nine people injured. The event was heavily publicised via local news networks including CBC News, CP24, CTV and Global News. The explosion caused damaged to all 31 townhouses, one of City Sites’ client corporations. The neighbouring hi-rise building - also a client of City Sites - sustained damage to windows, balcony doors and various other components. This synopsis briefly summarizes the steps that were taken by Property Management to respond to the emergency

ON ROUTE TO THE EXPLOSION

Within 15 minutes of being notified of the emergency City Sites’ senior staff were on-site co-ordinating emergency management.

Fire

Co-ordinated our efforts with volunteers and other staff to setup a shelter inside of the property for anyone that was displaced by the explosion. Food and water were provided to the victims as was information to keep those informed while emergency services continued to investigate the cause of the explosion

Safety

Organized an emergency clean-up of debris, board up of broken windows and doors and by contacting the corporation’s preferred contractor as soon as the area was released to us by Fire & Emergency Services

Security

Hired a third party security provider to lock-down the evacuated homes and secure the property of the home owners. 24/7 mobile presence was established to deter against unauthorized access to the homes

Residents/board

Contacted all 31 owners of the townhome complex to inform them of the incident and to determine whether any people were missing or injured. Reported our findings to the Police Department to assist the municipal services with the emergency. Updates were issued to the Board of Directors by email as soon as available

Insurance

Notified the corporation’s insurance company of the loss for both clients and requested an adjuster attend the sites immediately to begin the claim process

Engineer

Contacted the corporation’s consulting engineer to advise them that a structural investigation into the safety of all our clients’ property would be required immediately