30 years ago today...

[Jon Skagfeld]

...is when the "big bump" occurred at an RRX in Mississauga, Ontario, west of Toronto.

Freight cars, some containing highly flammable and explosive chemicals, were derailed, causing an intense conflagration in the mainly residential area.

The whole city, some 250,000 people were ordered to be evacuated. This was done in a relatively orderly fashion. The result of this successful evacuation became known as the "Miracle of Mississauga".

My future wife, Betty, living in the same Brampton apartment building as I, quartered her brother, sister-in-law and 3 sons in her 1 bedroom apartment from Sunday after the blast 'til Saturday the next week.

Our local Reserve unit was on parade for Remembrance Day ceremonies on the Sunday, none of us knowing what was happening to the south of us.

After the parade, when we became aware of the situation, our CO, an OPP Sgt, ordered us to mount up and head south to the OPP detachment in Mississauga, and await further orders. The trip down Hwy 10 into Mississauga was surreal. There were no cars moving, no people around, no buses, trucks, taxis...nothing! (It reminded me of the closing scene of the movie "On the Beach").

No further orders were received since we weren't officially called out as an Aid of the Civil Power, so we returned to Brampton, chagrined that we couldn't help in any way.

So, there's an anecdotal tale from someone who was there.