NANAIMO — One year ago a widely heard and felt explosion blew a Nanaimo home into thousands of pieces.
The shocking incident is still impacting many lives, while answers behind how the blast occurred and who’s responsible remain unanswered.
On Feb. 27, 2022 a vacant Pine St. home near St Peters Roman Catholic Church exploded.
Remarkably only about half a dozen people had minor physical injuries, primarily from those nearby hit by flying glass and other debris.
Nobody was inside the home at the time of the explosion, confirmed by Fortis BC to be the result of accumulated natural gas ignited by an unknown source.
Fraser Paterson and his wife live a few doors down from the explosion scene, where an empty lot remains.
He vividly recalls they were at home having dinner and talking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine minutes before mayhem broke out.
Paterson was on the computer, when he said an indescribably loud “boom and shake” erupted.
“We had no clue what was happening,” Paterson told NanaimoNewsNOW. “It was just the largest, loudest noise I’ve ever heard.”
Paterson was forced from his chair to the floor.
His wife was convinced their home had been bombed. She phoned her parents to make sure they were okay, believing Nanaimo was under attack.
The pair then went outside and realized what happened.
It took months to clean up the scene of a massive house explosion on Nanaimo’s Pine St. on Feb. 27, 2022. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)Flames tore through 306 Pine St. with debris from the house flung several meters in all directions.
Dozens of emergency responders, as well as shocked area residents and pedestrians flocked to the scene.
Paterson vividly recalls vehicles dodging pieces of the carnage as debris dropped onto Pine St.
Damage to their home included several blown out windows, door frames, roof shingles and unhinged gutters.
Plywood covered the Patersons’ windows for four months until necessary repairs could be made following insurance claims.
Fraser Paterson said it’s hard to believe it has been a year since the infamous Nanaimo house explosion: “The memories are still very fresh”, he said.He said the neighbourhood banded together to help each other make temporary repairs with rainfall being an immediate concern.
“Even though we all live close to each other a lot of us hadn’t really spoken and met before. On that night we were going around helping each other and seeing how everyone was doing…I do believe its brought everyone closer as a neighbourhood as well,” Paterson said.
An estimated 15 homes in the immediate area were damaged by the blast.
Paterson said an ongoing worry people in the area have is the status of a home directly beside the explosion scene.
“The house next door that’s boarded up actually had people break in with squatters starting fires in there. Police were quite regularly in the property there…It would be great to have people move in and improve the neighbourhood.”
Fraser Paterson hopes new development will help improve his neighbourhood where a house explosded one year ago. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)Paterson said while loud noises bothered him for a month or two after the incident he has recovered.
He said his wife is still negatively impacted by the blast.
Paterson said in the minutes, hours and days following the explosion dozens of people reached out to make sure they were okay.
Many people feared for the couple’s safety knowing they lived in the vicinity.
“That was one of the most heart-warming things from it. We were just blown away with all of the messages, everyone was trying to get hold of us.”
Lisa Cook lives across the street on Pine St. from the Patersons.
She and her mother were watching television on their living room couch when the force of the blast sprung them airborne.
They both dropped onto the floor.
Cook feared their ceiling would cave in.
“In my mind it was either a bomb or a car had just rammed into our house. It’s such a busy corner, everybody flies up Pine to get off of Bruce.”
Multiple people on scene the night of the explosion immediately believed Nanaimo had been bombed.
The day after the blast Cook’s mother suffered a heart attack, which doctors determined was stress-induced from the explosion.
Cook said while she bounced back relatively quickly from the trauma of the blast, she said her mother is on a difficult journey.
“My mom as still jumpy. She’s definitely got PTSD from it for sure. I don’t know, it didn’t seem to effect me as much as her.”
Much like the Patersons, the Cooks’ home sustained damage on numerous fronts.
Three exploded skylights, damaged doors and widespread cracks in the drywall took several months to get assessed and repaired.
Local residents did a variety of temporary repairs, while contractors were seen in the area around the blast site for months tending to deficiencies directly related to the explosion.
Cook said the incident will be referenced for decades.
“It changed a lot of people’s lives. It ruined a lot of their houses then insurance took forever to fix things. Our skylights didn’t get fixed until six or seven months after.”
NanaimoNewsNOW received reports from all over the Nanaimo area from people who felt and heard the blast.
Reports from as far away as the Sunshine Coast were made from those who heard it.
Nanaimo RCMP announced a criminal investigation into the explosion a few days after the incident which garnered national headlines.
Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien said no arrests have been made or suspects identified.
“It was a mischief incident, someone was trying to remove piping, gas built up and there was a spark from some unknown source,” O’Brien said.
It’s believed copper wiring was targeted for removal from the home, he said.
“We knew that there were people squatting in the building and those activities probably led to the explosion.”
He said Nanaimo RCMP Victim Services worked with several area residents traumatized by the blast.
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