One victim of Tuesday’s explosion in downtown Prince George was flown to Vancouver hospital in critical condition while two others remain hospitalized at University Hospital of Northern B.C.
Just after 7 a.m., the building at 422 Dominion St., formerly known as Achillion Greek Cuisine, exploded into flames..
“One person is being moved into urgent care and is in critical condition,” said Prince George RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Jennifer Cooper. “I’ve been in constant contact with Northern Health and I do not have any confirmation on a fatality. Two people are in fair condition and are expected to be admitted for further assessment overnight.”
Two of the injured people were transported to UHNBC in an ambulance and the third was taken there in a private vehicle.
Police have deemed the fire as suspicious and the RCMP will continue to monitor the scene until the building is safe for fire investigators when they arrive on Wednesday.
RCMP are asking for anyone with video footage of the area of the fire taken around 7 a.m. Tuesday to phone the non-emergency line at 250-561-3300.
“We do know there were several people posting videos on social media in between those few moments when RCMP arrived and the explosion, about eight minutes of intervening time,” said Cooper. “That’s dashcam footage, video surveillance or anything captured on your cell phone that could provide investigators clues to how many people were (around) the building or came running from the building and also who was in the area. It’s too early to tell if anybody was in the building.”
All three victims were outside close to the building when the blast occurred, said Prince George Fire Rescue deputy chief Clay Sheen.
One of the walls of the adjacent UNBC Wood Innovation Research Lab was compromised and fire burned underneath the metal sheeting in the wall. Several stores and businesses on Fourth Avenue were damaged by the percussion of the blast, which shattered windows.
Firefighters from all four Prince George halls responded to the call. The force of the explosion presented significant challenges while they were attacking the blaze.
“We had to make sure the power and (natural) gas was turned off in the area,” said Sheen. “We had lots of debris that was unstable and before we could action we had to have the help of other city crews to stabilize. Most old buildings could have asbestos.”
RCMP and fire officials who attended an afternoon news conference were unable to confirm if it was a natural gas explosion.
“It’s really hard to tell at this time, explosions are so chaotic,” said Sheen. “But there’s only a few things that could cause an explosion like that and natural gas is certainly one of them.”
City road crews worked through the afternoon sweeping up debris from the explosion, which sent chucks of wood and asphalt pavement several blocks away.
Cooper said Fifth Avenue will be reopened later today but Fourth Avenue between Dominion and George streets will remain closed to allow business owners to replace glass and fix some of the damage to their stores.
