A year after house explosion, some Transcona residents still waiting to return

Winnipeggers who were displaced by a house explosion in the city's Transcona neighbourhood are still waiting on new homes and answers a full year since the blast.

A house on Camrose Bay, off Coldstream Avenue, blew up just after 11 a.m. June 26, 2024. The explosion was so massive, debris was found blocks away. 

While no one was injured, several nearby homes were significantly damaged, leading to the displacement of some families in the neighbourhood.

On Thursday, some of them attended a meet-and-greet organized by Transcona MLA Shannon Corbett to mark the anniversary of the explosion.

"There's been lots of concerns and questions about cleanup of the neighbourhood, what the next steps are, what can people do in the meantime," Corbett said.

"A big part of it is that we just wanted to honour what people have been through. This is a traumatic event and, you know, people lost a lot." 

But some displaced residents said they should have been able to move back into the neighbourhood already.

Karl and Karen Lent's home was next door to the house that exploded, and had to be demolished because of the damage.

Construction on a new home began two months ago, but the couple said the process is taking longer than they would have hoped because of red tape and lack of help from the city.

"You got to wait 10 months to get a building permit. It's ridiculous," Karl said. "It'd be different if we chose to tear down the house and build it. We didn't. This place [next door] exploded. Our house burned."

Karen Lent said the situation makes what's already been "a horrendous year" worse.

"A lot of stress," she said. "We lost everything. We had nothing. No furniture, no clothes, nothing. So it's been really, really tough on us."

Ray and Mary-Ann Lariviere were also displaced after the explosion. They expect construction of their new home to wrap up in September.

"We're waiting and waiting," Ray said. "I've seen houses that got destroyed and they're cleaned up and done, like, in three months. I don't understand what's going on."

The city said Thursday the cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Corbett said that probe should be in its final stages, and the city should start cleanup "in short order."

"Transcona is a really strong community, and we take care of each other. And I want people to know that they haven't been forgotten," she said.