An explosion described by one witness as a "fireworks blaze going off" shattered a shed between Seventh and Eighth Avenue Monday night and capped a busy start to 2012 for firefighters in the Prince George area.
Eighth Avenue resident Gaston Gilliard said he had finished watching a movie at around 10:48 p.m. when a "rushing" sound followed by a blast next door sent him to the window in time to watch flames erupt from the backyard of his neighbour's home.
"It sounded almost like a propane tank leaking, then boom and it sent stuff flying," said Gilliard. "It was huge, it was big. I think the lines [were] burning, the power lines [were] burning."
There were three people in the Seventh Avenue residence at the time of the explosion, said Assistant Chief Drew Larsen of the Prince George Fire Department. The resulting fire was confined to the shed and did not reach the home. There were no injuries as a result of the blast.
The fire is regarded as suspicious, said Larsen.
"According to the owners, there is no reason for it to be burning," he said. "Somebody's playing around.
"There were some propane tanks inside there and they may have been affected but we haven't seen any blown open."
Larsen said a damage estimate was not available.
Gilliard said it was the second fire at the residence in three years.
The Eighth Avenue explosion was the fifth reported incident firefighters had to deal with over the New Year long weekend.
At 6 p.m. Monday, a fire sent a volunteer crew to a building in Willow River. No further details were available.
On Sunday at 10 p.m. residents of a trailer in the 2600 block of Gunn Road returned home to find their mobile home engulfed in flames. One of the residents attempted to enter the trailer and suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation.
Damage is estimated at $60,000.
At 8 p.m. Sunday, a fire started in a ground floor storage locker in the Meadowbrook Apartments on 1st Avenue near Ospika Boulevard. No one was hurt but at least 25 people were left homeless; the city activated an emergency program to help house them.
On Saturday, fire destroyed the gymnasim at Ness Lake Bible Camp, about 40 minutes northwest of Prince George. No one has hurt.
