Last August, an explosion occurred in the small town of Wheatley, Ontario.
Immediately after the bombing, the government closed the town centre, injuring 20 of the 2,900 residents and only half of the 100 forcibly displaced families who had been allowed to go home for an hour to take some clothing and personal belongings, many without even a change of clothes and belongings.
Some speculate that the explosion was due to a natural gas well built underground in the town in the 19th century, but this is also speculation.
Now, more than half a year has passed since the explosion, the closed area of the town has always been in a state of power outage, the intersection is guarded by police cars, and the real cause of the explosion has still not been clarified.
Whitley is located on lake Erie in southwestern Ontario. In the 1890s, people began digging natural gas wells to provide energy to homes and businesses in and around the town.
Over time, natural gas wells became obsolete, and some buildings were built directly on natural gas wells. The information records of the wells are also scattered, and there is no complete set of position information.
Before the explosion, Whitley was known for its Lake Erie fisheries, shipyards and lakeside provincial parks. Few people in the town are aware of the existence of natural gas wells. In 1936, there was an explosion in the town that leveled a conference hall, but few residents knew about the incident.
It wasn't until after the august bombing last year that newspapers that reported on the incident, and the older residents of the town who had experienced it, allowed the forgotten history to re-circulate among residents.
Staff demolished buildings near the blast site
The first signs of this explosion occurred on June 2 last year.
Whit Thiele, who owns a commercial building in the center of town, noticed a foul smell constantly pouring out of the basement of the building. He went to the basement and saw water gushing out of cracks in the building's foundations and drainage pipes, merging into a bubbling pool. Whit soon felt dizzy and weak.
When firefighters arrived, they evacuated people near the building and treated Whit. Subsequently, the building was fitted with sensors to detect harmful gases, and firefighters evacuated the area around the building twice in the summer.
Whit Thiele
About three months later, on August 26, Steve Ingram, the president of the town's shipyard, and his wife, Barb Carson, were preparing dinner at home when firefighters began blocking the evacuation zone again because of a gas leak.
Steve still remembers telling his wife, "Evacuate again, there will be an explosion here sooner or later." As soon as the words fell, a loud explosion sounded in the air. The window frames of the couple's house began to bend and collapse outward, but fortunately they did not break.
The shock waves caused by the explosion turned the contents of their homes upside down. The insulation and other building materials of the house were blown into the air by the shock wave. The couple fled the house with their cell phones, T-shirts and shorts.
It was the office building in Whit where the explosion occurred. The explosion blew up a nearby pizzeria and launderette, as well as a newly opened motel and bar. Surveillance on the side of the street recorded an orange flame erupting from the building, blowing the building into the sky.
Steve Ingram
Local officials quickly launched an investigation and found an old gas well under the parking lot near the site of the explosion. At the same time, on the road near the site, there will be natural gas leakage every 40 days or so. It also raised fears of another explosion.
After further excavation work, a second old gas well that was leaking was also found. Local officials said a third well may be hidden somewhere in the center of the town.
While assessing these risks, many are wrestling with whether the town, founded in 1865, should be abandoned permanently.
Volunteers prepare food for the affected residents
Nearly seven months after the explosion, about 300 people are still unable to return home and 38 businesses are closed. Residents went from initial shock and frustration to current anger as the government did not do more and carry out repairs.
Ontario had promised about $3.96 million in aid, but some shopkeepers said they hadn't seen any money yet, and it wasn't enough to reopen their business.
As a result of the explosion, people were forced to flee their homes
Stephanie Charbonneau is a school teacher. The center of the explosion was just a few steps away from her beautiful red brick house. Because of the potential risks, the insurance company could not send workers into her house to drain the heating and water pipes. Some of the water pipes in her makeshift shelter were frozen, and she was very worried that her home would be worse off without heating.
Tracey Declerck and his daughter's wooden craft shop, just across the road from the blast site, was filled with merchandise and is still cordoned off with planks. Tracey said that shop was their livelihood. Before solving this problem, she had to find another job to make ends meet.
Tracey Declerck
At last November's meeting, local officials expressed understanding of residents' frustration and anger, but also stressed the complexity of the problem and the time it will take to resolve it. Melissa Harrigan, a town councillor, said she didn't want to rebuild in an explosion without finding out why. If this were done, the children and grandchildren of the inhabitants would face the same problems 60 years from now.
It's unclear who is responsible for all the losses, as companies that drilled natural gas wells are long gone. There are rumors that lawyers representing residents will ask the court to approve a class action lawsuit against the town government, which owns a parking lot above the ground where a gas well is located.
Despite the government's delay in finding a solution, people are doing their best to try to return to normal life before the explosion.
Hilary Hyatt rebuilt its own café and restaurant, Lil Hil's, at the golf club in the east of town. She says she's happy to get back to work. She lived on the shores of Lake Erie, far from the enclosed area of the explosion. She said she was like everyone at Wheatley and wanted to end the uncertainty as soon as possible and get the town back home.
Hilary said the whole town rallied to help them, just as people helped each other when B.C. was flooded before. People living outside and near the enclosed area provide them with housing, clothes and even Christmas gifts for their children.
Hilary Hyatt
In a video conference in early February, residents were told they would not be able to get a confirmation of whether they could return to their house until May at the earliest.
It is hoped that the town can investigate the cause of the explosion as soon as possible, so that the residents can live in peace and contentment again and return to their homes.
Source: Tara Walton/The New York Times