A car explosion rocked Brentwood Bay Sunday morning, sending one man to hospital.
The Central Saanich Fire Department received 911 calls from several people in the community reporting a loud explosion just before 9 a.m.
Firefighters raced to the Anglers Anchorage Marina and discovered a yellow Ford Escape in the parking lot with its windows blown. B.C. Ambulance paramedics had already transported an injured man to hospital.
“We’re in the middle of investigating it now, trying to determine the exact cause,” said Central Saanich Fire Chief Kenn Mount said Sunday.
Mount said he believes the explosion was caused by gas. No additional details were available Monday.
Central Saanich police are also investigating.
The injured man was inside the car when it exploded. He couldn’t get out but several people in the community rushed to help him.
“It’s very unusual. I’ve only seen something like this in my career a couple of times,” said the fire chief
The fire department has sent a report to Technical Safety B.C. to rule out any kind of defects on products.
Port Royal residents Anita and Geoff Stevenson, who walked by the marina in the early afternoon, said the explosion was “very loud.”
“The house moved,” Anita Stevenson said.
Andreas Bockelmann said he was sleeping on his boat when he heard a “significant explosion.”
“The shockwave hit the boat, actually,” he said. “All the seabirds started flying, the gulls and herons.”
Bockelmann said he initially assumed a propane tank on one of the boats at the marina had exploded, finding out later that it was a vehicle.
