New Kanata business forced to close after electrical explosion

Owner of Moo & Bean Cafe Chi Blondin, poses for a portrait outside of her damaged store. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia

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The decorations Chi Blondin had carefully hung up when she opened her Vietnamese specialty coffee and matcha café four months ago were scattered across the floor by the time her husband arrived. Moments earlier, Blondin had been sitting down to dinner with a friend when her phone rang. On the other end of the line was her staff member at Moo & Bean Cafe, calling in panic.

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“Chi, something exploded,” Blondin recalls the employee telling her.

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It was around 7 p.m. on Saturday Aug. 22, when two staff members working the closing shift heard “a very loud bang” that shook the walls. Fire investigators would later trace the blast to a hydro transformer that malfunctioned and blew.

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“I asked what exploded and where, but she couldn’t answer … she was so shaken,” Blondin said. “She told me the walls were shaking and everything was starting to fall.”

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Kanata residents may have heard the loud thud at about 7 p.m. on Saturday. While many might have brushed it off, Blondin said the impact is far more serious for several businesses in the Silver Seven Road commercial strip.

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“We’re going to be closing for months, to be honest,” Blondin said.

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Bob’s Rehab at 767 Silver Seven Rd. in Kanata is seen Sunday, Aug. 23, following an electrical room explosion Saturday evening that damaged the business and neighbouring units. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

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That night, Ottawa Fire Service said multiple 911 callers reported an explosion at Bob’s Rehab, an acupuncture and massage clinic in a commercial strip mall at 767 Silver Seven Rd. A report provided by the fire service says the store front windows and exterior finish of Bob’s Rehab had been “blown out.”

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Fire spokesperson Nicholas DeFazio told the Ottawa Citizen that firefighters found a small electrical fire inside the business, already extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system. Crews then entered neighbouring units and discovered structural damage affecting at least two of them, according to an OFS report.

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Video surveillance obtained by Ottawa police showed a second Hydro vault several hundred feet away explode, fire investigators said. Hydro personnel subsequently disconnected the main power and isolated the property, while Enbridge shut off natural gas and tagged out the meters to all the businesses.

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DeFazio said Ottawa Hydro confirmed that the building had been completely de-energized, and that Enbridge Gas had shut down the gas to the building.

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Fire officials estimate $1,000,000 in damage, according to the OFS report. As of Monday, Aug. 24, the investigation has been turned over to the Electrical Safety Authority.

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No injuries were reported.

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Bob’s Rehab at 767 Silver Seven Rd. in Kanata is seen Sunday, Aug. 23, following an electrical room explosion Saturday evening that damaged the business and neighbouring units. Photo by adf

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Ottawa Fire Service investigators say the blast was likely caused by an electrical failure originating in the electrical vault.

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They classified the incident as preventable, though the precise reason for the failure remains unclear while the investigation continues.

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“This explosion will be classed as undetermined at this time until further information becomes available,” the report states.

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Damage to a wall inside of Moo & Bean Cafe. Photo by Spencer Colby /Postmedia

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The explosion left the dividing wall between Moo & Bean Café and Bob’s Rehab dangerously unstable — “on the verge of falling,” Blondin said — and the sprinkler in Bob’s Rehab sent water flooding into her café. Repairs could take months.