Class-action suits launched for residents, businesses who fled Toronto explosion

As concerns about neighbourhood exposure to asbestos and other issues saw residents vent their frustrations at public officials who held a media conference in the neighbourhood, John Santoro and his mother launched a suit seeking $300 million for negligence, nuisance, trespass, and liability.

Sunrise Propane Energy Group Inc., and the City of Toronto were named as defendants. The province of Ontario and the Technical Standards and Safety Authority have been notified they will be added to the list.

Santoro said he and his family were left traumatized by the explosion and its aftermath, in which his elderly parents became separated for hours in the confusion of their escape.

"My father is 67-years old and spends a lot of time sitting there and crying now, just thinking about what's happened, it's very emotional," Santoro said at a press conference.

Other members of the family thought his parents were dead since they live right across the street from the blast site, Santoro added.

The house had its windows blown out and is still not safe to return home to, Santoro added. To make matters worse, he said, all their identification is inside the home and cannot be retrieved.

Santoro's suit was one of three filed Wednesday by various law firms.

"The defendant City of Toronto permitted Sunrise to locate and operate on the premises and to carry on its dangerous operation in the vicinity of residential homes and business," reads the statement of claim naming the Santoros as defendants.

Another claim led by Anna Manco and her husband Frank alleges, "the explosion and the consequent damages in the City of Toronto was caused by the negligence of the defendants, their agents, servants or employees."

"As such they are responsible to the class."

That suit names Sunrise and the city.

The Ontario government and the City of Toronto declined comment and Sunrise could not immediately be reached for comment.

The allegations made in the statements of claim have not been proven in court.

The early Sunday morning blasts at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases sent vivid orange fire balls into the night sky and displaced thousands of residents.

A firefighter died at the scene and an unidentified body found in the charred remains of the propane facility was to undergo an autopsy Wednesday. It also emerged Wednesday that a woman who fled the explosion suffered, according to her family, a fatal heart attack after returning to home.

The safety authority, which is responsible for licensing and inspecting facilities like Sunrise, said Wednesday that of the 73 propane sites in Toronto, seven are comparable to Sunrise.

The TSSA also said it issued "cease and desist" orders to Sunrise Propane in 2006 when "technical violations of the propane code were discovered, such as a hose hanging from a truck."

However, the authority cautioned that "no one should speculate, based on the results of its previous inspections, as to what may or may not have caused the explosion."

Lawyer Harvin Pitch, who represents the Santoros, said he'd be happy to work with the organizers of the other two class-action suits to ensure that residents and business owners are properly compensated.

"We welcome them," he said. "The more firepower the better, so the city and the province and Sunrise know what they're up against."

Pitch's colleague Richard Bogoroch said the lawsuit is also about shining a spotlight on other dangerous facilities in residential areas and pressuring the governments into action.

Anna and Frank Manco's home has been "effectively destroyed" by the blast, said lawyer William Sasso.

"Their lives have been disrupted. The case involves not only loss or damage to them personally but I believe the case raises fundamental issues of public responsibility," Sasso said.

Public health officials also said Wednesday that asbestos has been circulating in the neighbourhood because of the blast - including at a child-care centre - but insisted that only long-term exposure is a health risk and fears for the children's health was "not an appropriate concern."

"If it were my child, I wouldn't be worried," said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, the city's acting medical officer of health.

But infuriated residents who had gathered to watch the press conference exploded with frustration and the briefing was called short after a local politician engaged in a screaming match with a constituent, telling the man to "shut up."