Family Reflects on Victoria St. Explosion, 1-Year Later

Tuesday, 27 March 2012 07:35

The victims of the Victoria Street explosion are continuing to pick up their lost pieces one year after the horrific fire that destroyed their homes. It was one year today when the apartment building exploded causing a large portion of the building to collapse, injuring many and killing two. Paul Watson and Katie Sutherland lived on the third floor of the building. Watson, who was home alone that morning, was in bed at the time; "I remember hearing the explosion and thinking it was either a train accident or car accident outside at first until the floor started falling through". Watson landed about 10 feet outside of the building, suffering from minor injuries. All of their belongings were gone, including their cat who presumably perished in the blaze. Watson says the only things that escaped were him, his dog Cutty and the underwear he was wearing. Cutty endured one heck of an adventure that day. He ran from the building and was found over by Mill Street after being struck by a vehicle. Cutty miraculously survived both ordeals that day. A blessing in disguise through this all was that Sutherland was not home at the time of the explosion and the couple found out roughly three weeks later that she was pregnant with their first child, "it's nice to have that kind of happy ending after something like that happens, so she's just kind of been the light in our lives right now. We're lucky that way". The couple welcomed a beautiful daughter, Georgia in December. The two say rebuilding their lives has been a slow process and they are getting their slowly but surely. Watson says "we're still in the process of getting stuff back; you think you have everything back and then you go to do something or get something that you forgot that you haven't replaced yet or that you've lost. It's an ongoing process pretty much". They both say they appreciate the little things in life now and are looking forward to continuing rebuilding their lives as a family. Although the building is being reconstructed, the answers how and why are outstanding. The Ontario Fire Marshall's Office says the investigation is continuing. Lead Investigator Skye Lorimer says they are still waiting on some test results and are not able to release any details at this time.