By Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
On Aug. 26, 2021, a devastating gas explosion rocked the town of Wheatley.
Now, 38 months later, officials say the turbulent chapter in the Lake Erie community’s history has come to an end.
Emergency personnel, Mayor Darrin Canniff, and West Kent councillors Lauren Anderson and Melissa Harrigan marked the occasion Oct. 31, with the mayor signing a document officially terminating the emergency order.
“This is the best signature I’ve ever made,” the mayor said. “We can now look forward to a much brighter future and looking foward to how we redevelop Wheatley.”
Anderson, a Wheatley resident, commended the collaborative efforts by the people in her community.
“This was definitely a group effort and this was definitely accomplished by a lot of people coming together and supporting a community to get back on their feet,” a beaming Anderson said. “We can see the end and we can start developing the land how the community wants it.”
Anderson had special words of praise for C-K Public Works director Ryan Brown and Chatham-Kent Fire & Rescue Chief Chris Case.
“Chief Case is definitely the hero of our town and will always be,” the councillor said to applause.
In her comments, Harrigan said she wanted to thank the people of Wheatley for their “patience, passion and willingness to continue to share” with municipal workers to find a solution and be “forward thinking.”
She also commended Anderson for being a leader in the community.
The Wheatley explosion, caused by hydrogen sulfide leaking from an old well, damaged several buildings in the downtown core and injured 20 people. It led to the lengthy evacuation of more than two dozen homes and the eventual demolition of buildings affected by the blast.
Over the course of the emergency, the Ontario government stepped up to assist providing funding and aid through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Following an exhaustive investigation, the well was successfully plugged.
The fire chief said he is optimistic about the situation, noting gas monitoring will continue at the site for another six months.
“Whilst the danger is reduced and the risk has passed, we’re still going to wait for six months and monitor the situation to make sure that it is stable before we absolutely finish things off,” Case added.
He said he won’t forget getting the call from Wheatley operations assistant fire chief Neil Woods that the gas had “just stopped.
“That was quite an emotional moment,” said the chief. “There may have been a few tears shed when that happened.”
According to Case, lessons were learned all around and the Wheatley experience will be used as a roadmap, including predicting similar events.
“There is definitely a lot of work going on right now to see what we can learn from this to make sure we can deal with future events,” Case said, noting there are more than 20,000 known gas wells in Ontario.
“There’s no need for alarm, but people should be aware this is happening,” he said. “If you smell gas, even if you’ve smelled it for many years, call 911. People need to be aware the risk is there, but I’m hoping we never see it again.”
Case had kudos for the firefighters and Windsor hazmat team that spent “days, month and years” on the site.
“The one thing that Wheatley should be rightly proud of is their firefighters.”
