Business owner 'quite relieved' as demolition continues at site of 2021 explosion in Wheatley, Ont.

Two business owners in downtown Wheatley say they are cautiously optimisticas the demolition of buildings continuesat the site of an underground gas explosion just over two years ago.

Hilary Hodgeson, the owner of Lil Hil's Coffee Shop,and Doug Walker, who owns Walker Tetra Mechanical, watched as heavy equipment started hauling loads of concrete from the site, saying it brings hope of what's to come.

The Aug. 26, 2021 explosion destroyed two buildings, damaged several others and injured 20 people. Three of the damaged buildings have been flattened and are being cleared out.

Windsor Morning7:41Heavy equipment clears blast site in downtown Wheatley

After nearly 2 and a half years of stillness in downtown Wheatley, there is movement. CBC Windsor Morning host Amy Dodge talks with Wheatley business owners about how they're feeling.

"[There's] lots of heavy equipment, there's lots of crashing and banging and buildings coming down [but] we're quite relieved. We're happy that it's happening," Hodgeson said on CBC Radio's Windsor Morning.

"It's been a long time that we've had to drive by these buildings and kind of relive the explosion in our minds every time we drive by. Soit's actually quite refreshing to see them come down so we can move forward and offer our town some new beginnings."

Hodgeson has been running her business out of the Talbot Trail Golf Club for the last 18 months but is now finally back to her original location in the heart of downtown Wheatley.

She said the last two years have been "quite challenging," and she's hopeful that more people will be comfortable returning downtown.

"We are one of the only ones in town, so we're very grateful to be here and just to be a safe place in town for people to come and just be together as a community again," she said.

"We were two years without our town, without being able to go anywhere in town. SoI think people are just excited to be able to come back ... and visit with each other."

Toll on people has been 'enormous'

Like Hodgeson, Walker agrees that seeing the heavy equipment and the work being done brings hope, but he says he's not feeling as positive.

He says he's concerned that the source of the gas has still not been found.

"There's as much gas, if not more, than there was the day of the explosion. It's still there. It hasn't gone anywhere," Walker said.

"The toll on the people here it's been enormous.It really has."

But he says the community has really come together and done some amazing things, in spite of the challenges that resulted from the explosion.

"People are rallying together and trying to stay positive and that's all really important to do," Walker said. "Someday we'll get it resolved."

Eric Labadie, a spokesperson for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, said the demolition of the three buildings will be completed by Thursday.

"In terms of what's next, progress continues to be made on the balance of the properties and further details will be shared in the new year,"Labadiewrote in an email. "An update report for council is tentatively scheduled for early February."