Blind man, dog rescued in explosion
Gibson Avenue resident was in home that ‘blew … right off its foundation’
Authorities are searching for answers after an explosion levelled a central Hamilton home Tuesday afternoon, leaving a man trapped in the basement and debris, including a front door, strewn across the street.
It took emergency crews about an hour to rescue the man — who was described by neighbours and family as blind and also hard of hearing — from the rubble before taking him to Hamilton General Hospital at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Paramedics described his injuries as serious.
Neighbours identified the man saved from the collapsed house on Gibson Avenue as Murdoch — better known as “Murdie” — Campbell, who is in his 70s.
“All I know is that the house blew up and it went right off its foundation, straight up in the air,” said Campbell’s sister-in-law, Helen Evans.
Those gathered on the street clapped as paramedics wheeled the man on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
A woman who said she was his daughter walked alongside the stretcher, crying.
“Daddy, I love you,” she said, before telling reporters he was talking and she was heading to the hospital.
Evans said Tuesday night that Campbell remained in hospital in intensive care and had suffered a few burns.
She was concerned because Campbell’s service dog, a black Lab named “Flannel,” was still inside the home well into the evening, but the dog managed to be coaxed out using an animal control pole just after 8:30 p.m.
“The dog seems to be OK,” Evans said, noting he was going to be checked out to be sure.
“His tail was wagging a mile a minute.”
Firefighters responded to the call at 134 Gibson Ave. — between Barton Street East and Cannon Street East and just east of Birch Avenue — just before 2:15 p.m.
Advanced care paramedics, with experience and medication for treating “crush” or blast injuries, were sent to the scene, along with specially-trained firefighters called “confined space specialists,” who went into the rubble and found the older man.
Investigators from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office and an inspector from the Technical Standards and Safety Authority arrived on scene Tuesday night to start looking into what caused the explosion, said Hamilton fire spokesperson Claudio Mostacci.
Al Martin was raking leaves at his wife’s house a couple of doors down when he heard an explosion and smelled gas.
“I turned around and I heard this great big bang,” he said.
Next, Martin said he saw debris flying into the street, noting the two-storey home had blown into the one next door.
Neighbour Rhonda Bardough, who lives across the street, said the explosion knocked photos off her wall.
“The whole house shook,” she said.
With the cause of the explosion still under investigation, gas was turned off at almost 300 homes between Sherman and Birch avenues, and from Princess to Cannon streets.
Mostacci said he expected those homes would be without gas until Wednesday, after the fire marshal’s office finished at the scene, because only then would crews be able to get under the mountain of debris to shut off its gas.
Brandon Downie, who arrived on scene shortly after the explosion, described an overpowering odour of gas.
“I put my shirt over my face because I could smell the gas,” said the 26-year-old, who was driving to work along Gibson with his girlfriend, Madison Mina.
Downie said he parked the car, ran up to the house and started shouting and banging until he heard a moan from within.
“Honestly, the only thing that was going through my head was: ‘Please don’t let anybody be dead in there.’”
Downie said he caught a glimpse of an arm and, after about 30 seconds, the man told him he was OK and stuck in the basement near the laundry machines.
“Just hearing the guy’s voice almost made me cry,” said Downie, who climbed up on a ledge to see if other people were trapped. And that’s when he noticed the black Lab huddled near a bed.
“The dog was just totally scared.” Evans said Campbell had lived in the house for 30 or 40 years, with his wife, Grace, who died in August after a long battle with a liver disorder.
The Spectator reported earlier this month that the city named a public lane off Gibson Avenue after Grace, a well-known neighbourhood volunteer who spent more than 40 years helping keep the alley clean.
The story said Murdoch is blind and hard of hearing, but still bowls, curls and walks five miles a day.
Ward 3 Coun. Matthew Green said he met the couple four or five years ago through their involvement in the Beautiful Alleys project, which assembles volunteer groups to conduct cleanups.
He said the Campbells have been “living in and contributing to the community for decades.”
He called the blast “a catastrophic event that fortunately didn’t result in a tragedy. “So, we’re fortunate for that.” Green said nothing has been organized for the family yet, as it is a little premature.
But he will be there when there is a better assessment of what they require.
“The family has been through so much and we just want to be there for them as a community.”
‘Just hearing the guy’s voice almost made me cry.’ BRANDON DOWNIE PASSING DRIVER
With files from Matthew Van Dongen and Teri Pecoskie npaddon@thespec.com 905-526-2420 | @NatatTheSpec