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

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 9:25 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Winnipeggers who were displaced by a location detonation successful the city's Transcona neighbourhood are inactive waiting connected caller homes and answers a afloat twelvemonth since the blast.

A location connected Camrose Bay, disconnected Coldstream Avenue, blew up conscionable aft 11 a.m. June 26, 2024. The explosion was truthful massive, debris was recovered blocks away. 

While nary 1 was injured, respective adjacent homes were importantly damaged, leading to the displacement of immoderate families successful the neighbourhood.

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

"There's been tons of concerns and questions astir cleanup of the neighbourhood, what the adjacent steps are, what tin radical bash successful the meantime," Corbett said.

"A big portion of it is that we conscionable wanted to honour what radical person been through. This is simply a traumatic lawsuit and, you know, radical mislaid a lot." 

But immoderate displaced residents said they should person been capable to move back into the neighbourhood already.

Karl and Karen Lent's location was adjacent doorway to the location that exploded, and had to beryllium demolished due to the fact that of the damage.

Construction connected a caller home began 2 months ago, but the mates said the process is taking longer than they would person hoped because of reddish portion and deficiency of assistance from the city.

"You got to hold 10 months to get a gathering permit. It's ridiculous," Karl said. "It'd beryllium antithetic if we chose to teardrop down the location and physique it. We didn't. This spot [next door] exploded. Our location burned."

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

"A batch of stress," she said. "We mislaid everything. We had nothing. No furniture, nary clothes, nothing. So it's been really, truly pugnacious connected us."

Ray and Mary-Ann Lariviere were besides displaced aft the explosion. They expect operation of their caller location to wrapper up successful September.

"We're waiting and waiting," Ray said. "I've seen houses that got destroyed and they're cleaned up and done, like, successful 3 months. I don't recognize what's going on."

The metropolis said Thursday the origin of the detonation is inactive nether investigation.

Corbett said that probe should beryllium successful its last stages, and the metropolis should commencement cleanup "in abbreviated order."

"Transcona is simply a truly beardown community, and we instrumentality attraction of each other. And I privation radical to cognize that they haven't been forgotten," she said.