About three weeks ago, the residents of Orléans were awoken by an enormous jolt. The walls and windows of their homes were shaking and, a few moments later, the near constant sound of emergency responders racing somewhere in the distance.

On February 13, a home under construction in a new subdivision exploded, and it destroyed four homes and damaged many more. The explosion could be felt for kilometres, and I’ve read that it was heard as far away as the village of Vars.

I’d like to thank the emergency responders in the city of Ottawa for their quick and decisive actions that morning. Two people were rescued from the rubble with serious injuries and several others were hospitalized, including children. Residents of nearly 30 households were displaced for several days. When you see the images of destruction, it’s hard to understand how nobody lost their life.

I’d like commend my city councillor, Catherine Kitts. She and her team were on site right away ensuring residents were being taken care of, that neighbours were being provided the information they needed to ensure that those displaced had somewhere to sleep and receive a hot meal.

There will be several important lessons to be learned from what happened: lessons for home builders in securing their sites, lessons for first responders, and lessons for this government and the lack of supports to help those who no longer have a home to move into.