[Ross]

Explosions at a propane facility forced thousands of people in Toronto to evacuate early Sunday, and witnesses described the sky lighting up in the glow of an enormous fireball before turning black with billowing smoke.

Firefighters were battling blazes at the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gasses facility hours later, and one firefighter died, authorities said. A worker at the plant was unaccounted for, said Mark Pugash, a spokesman for the Toronto police. Some residents suffered minor injuries.

The explosions early Sunday also shut down Canada’s busiest highway and a part of the subway system, snarling traffic for thousands of travelers. Mayor David Miller said the fire was under control, but the chance of another explosion still exists because it is a propane facility.

Some residents said the blast was so forceful they felt their homes rock as though they had been struck by an earthquake. “It was just a tremendous explosion and blew all the windows out of the house, just blew the house up, and I just managed to get out of there in time,” said Robert Helman, who was covered in cuts and bruises as he fled his home.

Fearing the air had turned toxic, the police used bullhorns to order the estimated 12,500 residents within a mile radius of the plant to flee their homes immediately. Air quality tests later in the day showed the fumes were not toxic.

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