Peel police hosted a community meeting Thursday night for residents who were affected by a massive natural gas explosion that levelled parts of a Mississauga neighbourhood this past summer.
The June 28 explosion at a home at on Hickory Drive sent heavy debris flying hundreds of metres from the blast zone, prompting officials to issue an evacuation order that initially impacted 700 addresses in the surrounding area.
A total of four homes have since been demolished due to damage from the explosion and 33 families remain displaced.
The meeting, which took place at the Burnhamthorpe Community Centre, was the first to occur since officials announced that the explosion was deliberately triggered as part of a double suicide.
Mississauga Fire Chief Tim Beckett was on hand alongside representatives from Peel Regional Police and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal.
Speaking with CP24 prior to the meeting, one area resident said she is still working to repair damage from the explosion.
“We still have windows that need to be replaced, we still have a lot of things but I feel for those people over there,” the unidentified resident said, referring to those who lived closer to the blast site.
Another area resident said he attended the meeting to try and determine what comes next.
“I’m being penalized because I’m a victim,” Ron Thompson said following the end of the information session.
“My insurance has run out. My insurance company has said to me ‘you know what- there’s nothing we can do.’”
Thompson said that while he was glad to know that the investigation is now over, he has only received estimates on when he may finally be able to return to his home.
“Things are starting to happen, in the sense that there’s now a push to try and get (home),” he said.
The explosion killed 55-year-old Diane Page and her husband, 55-year-old Robert Nadler.
