Blast levels 1848 Bayham house

A two-storey house, built in 1848, at 9238 Sandytown Road in Bayham was demolished by a blast of unknown origin that left no evidence of flames or fire on Friday, Dec. 5, just after 10 a.m.

Ed Ketchabaw, a neighbour (and mayor of Bayham), said the house had been in his family for years, but was transferred to a new owner just four days before the explosion.

“It’s gone,” he said. Debris, including a window frame, was strewn as far away as across the road into a field.

He saw no charring or any other evidence of fire, which he found odd.

“It went ‘boom’”, just as he was preparing to leave his own house for the day. The windows of his home were severely rattled by the blast.

He was curious, he said, not just as a neighbour but also as mayor what had caused the explosion.

That’s now under investigation by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office and, because the home was heated by propane, Ontario’s Technical Standards and Safety Authority.

For more details, see the Dec. 10 edition of The Aylmer Express. (AE/contributed by Ed Ketchabaw)