No explosives found at north Edmonton property, residents cleared to return home

Residents of Habitat Crescent in northeast Edmonton were cleared to return to their homes on Wednesday after an unusual evacuation.

The welcome news came after an Edmonton Police Service investigation of potentially hazardous and explosive materials forced them out on Tuesday.

The discovery was made last month. Edmonton police were called on the evening of April 26 to do a welfare check on a man living near 50 Street and 131 Avenue in the Kennedale neighbourhood.

Officers found unknown chemicals and substances in plain view inside the property, as well as what police said were precursors that can be used to manufacture explosives.

Police took control of the property and locked it down as a crime scene, while determined there was no immediate threat to public safety.

But a thorough search of the residence needed to be done identify and remove potential hazards and explosives, so out of an abundance of caution, surrounding residents in the Boardwalk townhouse complex were told they had to spend Tuesday night elsewhere.

Those who didn’t have anywhere to go were put up in a hotel by the Red Cross.

At around 7 a.m. Wednesday, emergency crews set up a full-scale investigation with fire, EMS, and police on site. They blocked off access to Habitat Crescent in the Clareview area and set up a decontamination zone.

More than 100 people spent the night out of their homes. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, police said the testing of materials was finished and no explosive or volatile chemicals were found.

The area’s councillor says it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“Can you imagine if they didn’t take the precautions they did and then something were to happen? That would be the headline; the headline today is, ‘All is well,’” said Aaron Paquette, the councillor for Ward Dene.

The Canadian Red Cross was working Wednesday on getting evacuated residents back to their homes.

Edmonton police continue to investigate and did not say what kinds of chemicals it did find in the home.

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