Investigation continues into Echo Bay explosion (6 photos)

Anyone would be startled by an early morning explosion across the street from their house, but one Echo Bay man’s reaction was more serious.

Philip Moore’s house was about 300 meters from the explosion at the arena in Echo Bay which occurred between 4 and 4:30 a.m. Friday morning.

“It shook the whole house,” said Moore.

Being so close to an explosion of that size would startle anyone. Moore, who said he is battling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time in Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces, admitted to being temporarily disabled.

“It took a few minutes to gather myself,” he said.

The arena is directly across the street from Moore and numerous other residences, many of which house families with children.

Moore said drywall inside his house is now cracked from the pressure of the blast.

Much of Friday was spent trying to piece together exactly what happened in the explosion.

“Until the investigation is done we’re not going to jump to conclusions,” said Janice Catling, chief of Echo Bay Volunteer Fire Department.

Ontario Provincial Police, Ministry of Labour, TSSA, Fire Marshall, Union Gas and Algoma Power combed the building and took measurements to determine the cause of the explosion.

No injuries were reported in the explosion, Moore agrees it could have been much worse.

Although he saw flames immediately after the explosion, the scope of the damage wasn’t fully apparent until daybreak.

“It didn’t look as bad until the sunlight hit it,” Moore said.

(PHOTO: Multiple organizations were on-scene in Echo Bay to determine the cause of an explosion early Friday at the local arena. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)

Previous SooToday coverage of this event:

Explosion rocks Echo Bay arena (2 photos, update)