Officials probe Eastern Townships explosions

Six burn victims from two incidents remain in drug-induced comas

The situation remains critical this weekend for six burn victims of two separate explosions in the Eastern Townships, with one man fighting for his life at Montreal’s specialized burn unit.

“He has very, very severe burns to 90 per cent of his body and he also has inhalation injuries,” Dr. Isabelle Perreault, head of Canada’s second-largest burn unit, said Friday.

That man and three other middleaged men were sent to her unit within Centre hospitalier de l’université de Montréal’s Hôtel Dieu hospital Thursday afternoon — two by air, two by ambulance.

An explosion and fire at Neptune Technologies and Bioressources in Sherbrooke killed two people and sent 19 people to hospital, including the four sent to Montreal.

With Perreault’s 10-bed unit now full, Quebec’s second burn unit, located within Quebec City’s Hôpital de l’Enfant-Jésus, was alerted to receive burn victims if necessary.

Sadly, that proved to be the case within hours of the alert.

At about 12:20 a.m. Friday, an explosion ripped through the research centre at the Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) plant in Valcourt.

Two men, a 38-year-old BRP employee and a security guard, 54, were transported to Quebec City.

That burn unit remains designated to receive severe burn victims this weekend, hospital officials said.

All six burn patients, from the two incidents, are in drug-induced comas, Perreault said.

Three of the four patients in Montreal are in critical condition, but there is no fear for their lives. One of the men in Quebec City is also in that category, according to hospital officials. The first 72 hours after injury are critical for people who suffer burns to more than 30 per cent of their bodies.

Meanwhile, investigators are probing the two major incidents in the Eastern Townships.

Firefighters and environmental experts are closely monitoring the cleanup operations in Sherbrooke, at the Neptune site.

Its plant has large tanks of acetone, a highly flammable solvent that is believed to be the source of the explosion and fire.

Investigators with the Sûreté du Québec and Quebec’s workplace health and safety board, the CSST, are probing the BRP explosion.

Bruno Beaulieu, a spokesman for the SQ, said that it appears the explosion came from the research centre’s laboratory and was accidental.

DARIO AYALA/ THE GAZETTE The Neptune Technologies and Bioressources plant in Sherbrooke was reduced to rubble by an explosion and fire Thursday that killed two people.