The NDP wants answers about the government-owned multi-unit building that exploded Sunday morning..NDP MLA Meara Conway (Regina Elphinstone-Centre) wants to know how this could have happened, as the building was in her riding on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Retallack Street..“How on earth did this happen?” asked Conway in Question Period (QP)..Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky could not give an answer during QP..“I am very concerned about that, obviously very concerning,” responded Makowsky.. Gene Makowsky .“I’m thankful no one was seriously injured in that situation. We don’t want to jump to conclusions about the reasons for that.”.On Sunday morning, a government-owned building exploded and the blast was heard around Regina. .Regina Fire and Protective Services (RFPS), EMS, and the Regina Police Service (RPS) responded and evacuated the neighbourhood until 6 p.m. when people were allowed to return to their homes..RFPS released a statement Monday afternoon about the cause of the explosion..An interior natural gas line was cut and went into the unit. However, it is unclear how the gas ignited and when the line was cut. .“Fire investigators located a gas line within the property that had been compromised and determined this explosion was related to natural gas,” said the RFPS statement. .“An ignition source could not be located due to the extent of the damage.”.READ MORE ‘Major explosion’ destroys a Regina apartment building, heard across the city.The RPS will investigate further to determine if there was a “criminal aspect” to the explosion..Makowsky said the government-owned building was vacant..“My understanding is this was a vacant building. There was no current tenants. And it’s been that way for quite some time over a year,” said Makowsky.. Regina Apartment Explosion 1 .In the media scrum, a reporter asked what the government does with empty buildings..“What generally happens if that’s the case, the building is secured with all the windows are covered and the entrances are locked. And so that was the situation,” said Makowsky..“They are inspected regularly by either the local housing authority or a third party security firm. They may hire to do that work. There was an inspection recently and there was no issues with the property and so that’s, that’s what I know at this time of the situation of that particular house.”.The building next to the explosion has been deemed unsafe and will be demolished, displacing two people who lived in the building, according to RFPS Deputy Fire Chief Gord Hewitt..“The apartment block next to the one that had the explosion … it’s structurally damaged. Those two individuals that were living in that block have been displaced,” said Hewitt..Hewitt said it was “determined they were the only two that lived in the building. So, they had, you know, a basically, an occupant-stated all-clear on the property, so that was reassuring.”.The Saskatchewan government owns approximately 18,000 units and 3,000 of the units are empty, including 700 in Regina.
