It's been five months since a deadly explosion rocked a north Edmonton neighbourhood. And the remnants of at least three homes affected by the blast are being clean up.
On June 20th, the explosion occurred at a home located at 18011-91 A Street, which land title records showed was owned by Dwayne Poirier and 47-year-old Jeanne Cathleen Heard.
Four people died in the blast. Edmonton police confirmed that three of the four people whose bodies were discovered after the blast were victims of a homicide.
Poirier's death has been ruled non-criminal. But Heard's death was ruled a homicide.
Craig Huber and Brad Winter were also found dead in a house located next door to the one that exploded. Police said those deaths were also ruled a homicide.
A source told CTV News it's believed the house was full of a mixture of propane and natural gas when it blew up.
One nearby resident who originally spoke to CTV on the day of the blast now says he is still renovating his homes after it was damaged. The man says his son took some eye-catching video of the incident, but has since moved away from the area.
"We were living away from here and everyday we had to come back and forth," said Raman Bharrat.
Bharrat says he and his family has spent most of this year trying to put their lives back together.
Other residents say they are relieved to see some of the wreckage being removed from their neighbourhood.
"For me it has been very emotionally depressing, because I ended up in the hospital with depression," said Monique Beland.
At first there was some uncertainty as to who is responsible for cleaning up the debris because the homeowners were killed in the blast. But the city eventually got the green light from the mortgage holder at the beginning of November to get the specific debris cleaned up.
"It has taken a substantial amount of time for the city to be able to do this, the reasons why we did it and why it has taken so long is so the taxpayer isn't on the hook," said Ryan Pleckaitis, a spokesman for the community standards branch.
The city says it will cost $8,000 to clean up the blast site and the two homes surrounding it. And the bill will be added onto the 2011 property tax bill.
"Whoever is paying the property taxes next year will ultimately be responsible then for the cost of the clean-up."
The city says the three properties will be levelled by Tuesday. Following that, officials will meet with the owners of the surrounding homes to finish the clean-up and any additional work needed.
With files from Sonia Sunger
