Firefighters injured in Mississauga blaze

(Update)

Three fire fighters remain in hospital — one in critical condition after they were injured responding to a warehouse fire in Mississauga. They were called to a minor blaze on Thamesgate Drive near Pearson airport early Wednesday morning. And within minutes of arriving, they were knocked off their feet as a building exploded in front of them.

Three fire fighters remain in hospital — one in critical condition after they were injured responding to a warehouse fire in Mississauga. They were called to a minor blaze on Thamesgate Drive near Pearson airport early Wednesday morning. And within minutes of arriving, they were knocked off their feet as a building exploded in front of them.

Three firefighters were at the edge of this blaze when these explosions began: “And the noise. Oh, my goodness! It was just boom boom boom boom.”

A wall of the plant collapsed, leaving 2 of them with broken bones and another with critical injuries.

Greg Laing is a Deputy Fire Chief: “From a building and contents fire emitting smoke to an instantaneous destruction of the entire building.”

The warehouse stored aerosol bug spray and butane lighters that triggered the rapid escalation from minor fire to major catastrophe.

John McDougall is a Mississauga Fire Chief: “Just instantaneous. He was going to enter the building and he said just boom.”

The intensity of the blast melted the nearby fire truck’s lights and hoses, shattered it’s windshield, and sent the men flying backward into the air. Crews worked for hours to extinguish the resulting flames while their colleagues lay in hospital beds. Though the injured members are recovering, Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, is concerned about why the flammable items were being stored without the city’s knowledge. She says an occupancy permit for the warehouse to hold high risk items was never filed: “We have an occupancy permit for a good reason — so that our fire department and our police department knows what’s stored in the buildings or what operation is conducted in the buildings.”

Had the fire fighters known what they were getting into, a tragedy could have been prevented.

The most seriously hurt fire fighter is in critical but stable condition with internal injuries caused by the impact of the blast. The two with broken bones should be released from hospital within the next few days. A fourth crew member suffered smoke inhalation while he was trying to rescue his colleagues. He was released from hospital in the afternoon.