FOG BLOG CANADA LOG: GAS LEAK EXPLOSION: HOMES DESTROYED, IN EAST OTTAWA SUBURB OF ORLEANS!

Multiple injuries, homes destroyed in east Ottawa gas leak explosion All accounted for after gas leak triggered blast, emergency officials say Several homes were destroyed and two people were pulled alive from the rubble in east Ottawa Monday morning after a gas leak triggered an explosion.

Residents started calling 911 at about 6:18 a.m. to report the blast, according to fire, police and paramedic officials at a news conference Monday morning.

Ottawa firefighters said a gas leak caused an explosion that affected four homes under construction on Blossom Pass Terrace. Homes with people living in them are nearby. Paramedics had said two people were unaccounted for and believed to be in the rubble, and that emergency crews were looking for them.

At the news conference, officials said the first person had been pulled alive from the rubble at 7:19 a.m. The second was rescued just prior to the news conference getting underway after 9:30 a.m., officials said.

One was trapped under a pile of debris and firefighters needed to use chainsaws to get to them, according to fire spokesperson Nicholas DeFazio in an afternoon update. He said the other was rescued from a collapsed home.

The two people pulled from the rubble were taken to hospital in serious but stable condition. Three other people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, paramedics said around 10:30 a.m.

Seven residents were also treated on site for minor injuries and released.

Everyone is accounted for, Defazio said around 1:30 p.m.

Among the groups investigating, he named Ottawa police and firefighters, Ontario's fire marshal and Ministry of Labour, and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority.

A spokesperson for the authority said in an email to CBC that the organization has both an investigator and inspector on site Monday and will work with other officials to establish whether "any non-compliance with the fuels safety regulations" contributed to the incident.

As of around 4 p.m., the Office of the Fire Marshal had arrived on scene and was preparing to begin an investigation with a team of six, including a drone operator, engineers and fire investigators. The purpose of the investigation is "to determine the cause, origin, and circumstances of the explosion," ......