St. Catharines, Ont., holding community meeting after industrial explosion that killed worker

St. Catharines, Ont., is hosting a community meeting this coming week to answer questions about an explosion and fire at an industrial plant that killed a worker in January.

The meeting is set to take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Grantham Lions Club on 732 Niagara St.

It'll also be streamed on YouTube.

The city said questions can be sent in advance to emergencymanagement@stcatharines.ca until Monday at noon, but the city will also try to answer questions from the in-person audience.

"Unfortunately not all topics can be addressed due to ongoing investigations," said the city in an update on its website.

Police said emergency crews were called to the Ssonix Products — a hazardous waste facility — at 20 Keefer Rd., just after 6:30 a.m., on Jan. 12.

The company's website said its line of business includes producing gasoline, kerosene, distillate fuel oils, residual fuel oils and lubricants.

It has prompted investigations from Ontario's Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, Ontario's Ministry of Labour, the Ontario Fire Marshal and local police.

Worker's last words: 'All I did was open the door'

St. Catharines fire department Chief Dave Upper previously said there was only one worker in the building at the time.

That worker, 37-year-old Ryan Konkin, was taken to the hospital but later died of his injuries.

Natalia Sepúlveda-Lastra, Konkin's 24-year-old fiancée, told CBC Hamilton she has cried every day since his death.

"It's heartbreaking because he was such a hard worker and he felt he was getting appreciated ... but you don't expect him to pay with his life," she said.

"He managed to say to the nurses, 'All I did was open the door.' ... I wish I could've been the one that heard that."

She also has questions about his death and how safe it was to work at Ssonix Products.

"There was that underlying feeling, maybe he shouldn't stay at that job for too long," she said, adding he liked the job there but she was worried about his health.

Sepúlveda-Lastra wants to know why no alarm went off if there was a build-up in gases or chemicals at the facility.

An official cause of the explosion has not been released. 

Facility owner says he doesn't have answers yet

Asked about safety concerns in a brief phone call, Ssonix Products owner Steve Baker said he doesn't "have any answers right now."

"There are a lot of hurdles to overcome both emotionally and in trying to figure out what happened," Baker said.

"We're all coping with he fact we lost one of our own people and we're taking it a day at a time."

Sepúlveda-Lastra hopes Konkin won't be forgotten and the community meeting on Wednesday will lead to more answers about his death.

Sepúlveda-Lastra said Konkin was hilarious, outgoing and put others first.

She said he loved art, cooking, fishing, gardening, music and woodworking.

"Nothing is going to bring him back," Sepúlveda-Lastra said.

"He was always such a protector, he didn't want anyone to get injured ... his story can help prevent that."