GTA Construction News staff writer
Four construction workers are in critical condition at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre after an explosion Tuesday morning at a high rise construction site in Toronto’s North York area that sent a total of seven people to hospital.
Toronto Paramedic Services Chief Bikram Chawla said four workers were transported to trauma centres with life-threatening injuries, while three others sustained minor injuries and were treated at local hospitals.
Emergency crews were called to 68 Esther Shiner Boulevard, near Leslie Street and Sheppard Avenue East, around 9:15 a.m. after reports of a gas explosion. Firefighters arrived to find several injured workers but no active fire.
“On arrival there was no fire here, but crews were met with multiple patients and initiated requests for EMS units to attend,” said Toronto Fire Services division commander Paul O’Brien. “We had patients exhibiting signs of burns but there was no fire on TFS arrival.”
O’Brien said the blast occurred in the boiler room on the 24th floor — the building’s penthouse level.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre confirmed it received five patients from the incident.
“Sunnybrook received five patients from the incident today in North York, and we are working closely with first responders to provide coordinated care,” the hospital said in a statement. “Out of respect for patient privacy, we are unable to provide patient status updates.”
Officials say gas explosions at construction sites are rare, and the cause remains under investigation. The Ontario Ministry of Labour has launched an investigation.
“We do not attend a lot of calls like this, of this serious nature, in construction sites,” O’Brien said. “We do attend and respond to all emergencies, but I cannot recall in the last couple of years something of this nature.”
Construction work stopped immediately following the explosion. Workers waited outside the building for several hours before being allowed to retrieve personal belongings.
Chief Chawla commended the coordinated response among emergency services.
“I want to say thank you to all of our first responders — our fire colleagues, police and, of course, paramedics — who did an incredible job on the scene,” he said. “For scenes like this, where there are multiple patients, it has to be very organized and co-ordinated. We work with our emergency service partners to ensure each patient is triaged according to the severity of their injuries and transported accordingly.”
