Wheatley residents allowed back home after gas odour investigation
A portion of Wheatley has been evacuated due to a hydrogen sulfide leak, the same gas responsible for the 2021 explosion. CTV Windsor's Travis Fortnum reports.
A portion of Wheatley has been evacuated due to a hydrogen sulfide leak, the same gas responsible for the 2021 explosion. CTV Windsor's Travis Fortnum reports.
Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Trevor Jones says the 'all clear' has been given in Wheatley after a portion of the town was evacuated due to a gas odour investigation.
Speaking on AM800's Mornings with Mike and Meg, Jones said residents of 60 homes evacuated Thursday afternoon and were allowed to return around 9 p.m.
'It could have been potentially a little pocket of gas that came out from an old water well around the public library area of Wheatley. However, luckily around 9 p.m. last night, the last data was processed, readings showed no threat to public safety and residents were invited to come back to their homes.'
Chatham-Kent fire officials posted an update on social media on Friday morning:
Gas release has been stopped
No gas detected in nearby homes
No current threat to public safety
Power fully restored
All roads are now open
According to Chatham-Kent emergency official, hydrogen sulfide, the gas that caused an explosion in the village four years ago, was detected just before 2 p.m. yesterday.
A gas explosion in downtown Wheatley in August 2021 injured 20 people, destroyed two buildings and damaged several others.
— With files from AM800's Paul Mcdonald
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
How is strawberry season shaping up?
CTV's Karis Mapp explains why strawberry fans may have to dig deep this year and why farmers are watching out for a fungal threat. Summer is here and some strawberry lovers are eager to head out into the field and get their pick of the juiciest berries. But this year, strawberry enthusiasts may have to work a little harder to find the delectable delight. Last week the team at Brantwood Farms in Brantford warned pickers that the crop was less than overwhelming. 'We were really keen on how many strawberries we thought we had, but when we went to pick them, we realized we didn't have as many as we thought we had,' Andrew Pate from Brantwood Farms said. In a social media post on June 20, Brantwood Farms wrote, 'Strawberry picking is VERY light. We have not had the heat needed for the strawberries to ripen.' However, their luck changed as a heatwave hit the area. 'Everything started to come on all at the same time, and now we can't pick them fast enough,' Pate told CTV News on Friday. Strawberry Brantwood Farms Strawberries sat in baskets at Brantwood Farms in Brantford, Ont. on June 27, 2025. (Karis Mapp/CTV News) 'We still have lots of strawberries out there. It does just take you a little bit longer to find them than some years we have in the past. But, we haven't had too many people not able to fill their baskets yet.' Some eager fans were out in the field searching for the best berries. 'You really have to dig deep,' strawberry picker Meghan Hill advised. 'You really have to look under the leaves and pick it from the bottom.' 'They're a bit on the small side,' fellow picker Justin Hale said. 'We have noticed that.' But Justin said it was all part of the fun. 'It's like a treasure hunt. Right?' he said. Strawberry Brantwood Farms Strawberries from Brantwood Farms were pictured on June 27, 2025. (Karis Mapp/CTV News) Keeping an eye on a fungal threat The weather is not the only factor farmers are closely watching. A fungal disease, Neopestalotiopsis, is threatening some strawberry crops across the country. 'The plants gradually start to wilt and they eventually die,' Youbin Zheng, professor at the University of Guelph, said. 'That's going to reduce your yields, and you may not have any harvest.' There is no known cure for the disease, and it can spread quickly from plant to plant. A fungicide can keep it at bay, but it can't eliminate it completely. 'If you have rain underneath the infected [plants] you can splash to another plant,' Zheng said. Strawberry Brantwood Farms Strawberries from Brantwood Farms were pictured on June 27, 2025. (Karis Mapp/CTV News) Neopestalotiopsis was first reported in Florida in 2017. Since then, it has been found in Mexico and Canada. The first recorded Canadian case was in Ontario in 2020. 'We are aware of it. We haven't found it in our field yet,' Pate said. 'We are scouting for it. We are worried about it. Haven't found it yet, which is a good thing.' With files from Daniel Otis and Karis Mapp.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Sudbury celebrates Multicultural Day
Sudbury celebrates Multicultural Day Greater Sudbury marked its inaugural Canadian Multiculturalism Day on Friday to celebrate the city's growing cultural diversity.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
‘It's a piece of aviation history': Gimli Glider cockpit makes return trip to Manitoba
Retired pilot Robert Pearson stands in front of the cockpit of the former Boeing 767 aircraft he landed safely in Gimli in 1983. Here he is on Friday June 27, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) After a 7,000-kilometre journey from a southern California scrapyard, a part of a plane that was made famous 43 years ago was reunited with the captain that flew it. 'This was my office. I flew this airplane quite a few times and as a matter of fact, I was the last one to use it,' said retired captain, Robert Pearson with a smile. The cockpit from the former Boeing 767 aircraft known as the Gimli Glider was recently recovered and brought back to Manitoba. 'It's great that this has been salvaged by the museum in Gimli,' Pearson said. 'It's a piece of aviation history.' Gimli Glider cockpit control panel A portion of the original side control panel of the Gimli Glider cockpit is still intact. Here it is on Friday June 27, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) Back on July 23, 1983, Pearson safely landed the plane on a decommissioned airstrip in Gimli, Man., a lakeside community about 100 kilometres north of Winnipeg. All 69 people on board, who were flying with Air Canada from Montreal to Edmonton, survived the emergency landing. The plane glided to a stop after it malfunctioned in the air and lost fuel. 'Touching down was good. A gentleman came up to me, he put his hand on my shoulder. He said, 'Captain, that was some feat,'' Pearson said. The whole plane went up for auction years ago, but didn't sell, so it was parted out. The cockpit stayed intact, though it has been collecting dust since 2008 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif. The Gimli Glider exhibit volunteers had their eye on it since 2017. They raised funds and thanks to a generous donor, it's now on its way to Gimli to be displayed alongside other memorabilia. 'An American businessman spoke to the owners and said, 'You need to understand how important this museum is,'' said Barbara Gluck, president of the Gimli Glider exhibit. 'Can you cut your price on the cockpit so that they can afford it and get it back for Canadian history?' Volunteers like Peter Grant met the truck driver on Friday afternoon at the border to see it come through. 'Holy mackerel! As soon as I saw the truck coming through the border and I saw the cockpit, my heart started to beat,' Grant said. Gimli Glider volunteers Left to right; Gwen Harp, Robert Pearson, Glen Hooper, Barbara Gluck and Peter Grant worked together to bring the cockpit of the original Gimli Glider home to Manitoba. Here they are together on Friday June 27, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg) He said the cockpit will be refurbished and put on display in the coming months. He noted he still can't fathom what it took for Pearson to safely land the plane. 'A lot of people don't realize the wizardry that Bob Pearson had to have to fly a plane like that with no fuel, no engines,' Grant said. 'All he had was up, down, left, right and he flew the plane for 100 miles with nothing.' It was all in a days' work, according to a humble Pearson. 'My job was to take off and land an airplane full of passengers and I'm really pleased I could do my job that day,' Pearson said.
