The woman who shot the now viral video of the immediate aftermath of an explosion in London's Old East Village is recounting the moments that followed the violent blast.
Keara-Lynn Douglas was watching TV with her family when the explosion at 450 Woodman Ave., near Queens Ave. happened around 10:37 p.m Wednesday.
"We felt the house shake. We actually thought something had hit the house," said Douglas. "So we ran outside and everyone was out on the street and everybody on the block had felt it."
Douglas said she went down Charlotte Street, which is about 50 metres from the explosion site, until she was directly behind the home that was reduced to rubble in the explosion.
"That is where I shot the video. It was almost like it was continuously getting fed a fuel supply. It was burning so bright, it was astounding," said Douglas "It brought me to tears, I've never seen anything like it."
Douglas' video has been viewed more than 29,000 times by Thursday morning.
About 10-15 mins after the #explosion in Old East Village explosion on Woodman Ave in #londonontario pic.twitter.com/MjaDgRPjsK
— Keara-Lynn Douglas (@KearaDouglas) August 15, 2019
The explosion happened roughly 12 minutes after a vehicle crashed into the Woodman Avenue home, rupturing a gas line. The fiery blast shot up into the air and sparked fires at other nearby homes. Up to ten homes on the street have been severely damaged, London fire officials said Thursday.
In the immediate aftermath, police officers and firefighters were seen going house-to-house telling those inside to leave the area, Douglas said.
"It was amazing how everybody on the street was just looking out for each other. With the evacuations happening the neighbours were all letting the policemen know who lived in each house and if they had already left, so that they weren't wasting their time. It was great to see," said Douglas.
James Spurway was driving through the area at the time of the blast and said the severity of it was "shocking."
"It is amazing no one was seriously hurt," said Spurway.
He pulled his vehicle over to offer help in the wake of the blast and also captured on video the moment when police began ordering people to leave the area.
[video width="320" height="568" mp4="https://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/explosion-video.mp4"][/video]
Daniella Alexandra Leis, 23, of Kitchener has been charged with four counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm and one count of impaired operation of a vehicle exceeding blood alcohol concentration in relation to the incident.
Dozens of people have been displaced with no clear timeline for when they will be allowed back inside their homes. Anyone in need of accommodations or assistance is advised to call the city at 519-661-2489 ext. 4548 or go to the Boyle Community Centre at 530 Charlotte Ave.
