A YEAR AFTER BLAST
Twenty-five residents still displaced after Mississauga explosion forced them out,
A year since the explosion in Mississauga that forced people from their homes on Hickory Dr., officials say 25 residents are still displaced.
While the city of Mississauga has provided tax relief, waived late payment charges and has helped residents through various application processes, the process of reconstruction for some of the houses still remains tangled.
“Let this be a call out to the insurance companies to be fair and to work with those residents so that they. . . can be back in their homes and back on their properties as soon as possible,” said Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, calling on insurance companies involved in the Hickory Dr. house explosion to expedite claim settlements so displaced residents can return to their homes.
The explosion took place on the afternoon of June 28, 2016 at 4201 Hickory Dr., killing Robert Nadler and Diane Page, both 55. Peel police ruled the blast a double suicide caused by the intentional disconnection of the natural gas piping.
About 800 homes on Dixie Rd. and Rathburn Rd. E. were impacted although 24 hours later, 69 residents were unable to return home. On the anniversary of the blast, 25 residents are still not able to come home.
“If we need to provide tax relief once again for 2017, I’m sure we would vote to do so,” Crombie said.
The 25 homes that remain unoccupied include detached dwellings on Hickory Dr., townhomes off of Dixie Rd. and condo townhomes on Rathburn Rd.
“The process has been complicated but I must admit, it’s taken a lot longer than I had hoped,” she said. “I thought they would have been home by Christmas.”
Pete Karageorgos, director of consumer and industry relations at the Insurance Bureau of Canada acknowledged the length and difficulty of the insurance settlement process.
“The process is long and drawn out,” he said.
Part of the reason for the delay, Karageorgos said was that there are many parties involved and it is not quite as simple as building a house from scratch.
“It was about a month (before we were able to gain access to the area),” he said. “Then you have to factor in that you need engineers, building officials to review the homes to make sure that the repairs that are needed are actually addressed and then architects to draw out what is needed. There’s a whole host of contractors and officials behind the process.”
Mena Suh, whose townhouse sat directly behind the blast site hoped to be back home by Aug. 1.
She described the process of filing claims and going through the process of getting back her house as frustrating.
Having never had filed a claim before, she said she found it a bit of a struggle.
She also had to deal with termination and reconnection fees for water, cable, the phone company, electricity and gas, she said.
“It was a hit from every direction,” Suh said, talking to reporters after the conference.
“The city is helping,” she added. “Coaching us and helping us.” With files from Rachael Williams, Mississauga News