For Vic Viani, it’s a heartache that doesn’t go away.

Exactly five years ago on Saturday, an explosion at Sunrise Propane in Downsview sent a fireball in the sky, killing two people and forcing 12,000 from their homes.

Propane tanks landed in his living room, which is directly across from the explosion site on Murray Road. “My fishing rods, which were in the garage, melted from the heat,” he said.

Luckily for Vic and his wife, Maria, they weren’t home on Aug. 10, 2008, because they were busy babysitting grandchildren in Bolton.

“We were blessed that we weren’t home,” Viani said. “We bought our house back in the 1960s. It was a quiet, safe community. Who could have suspected a danger of being blown up?”

But he and other Downsview residents now worry about new potential dangers lurking on a nearby rail corridor in light of the July 6 rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Que.

That train, carrying crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region, was headed for Irving Oil’s refinery in Saint John, N.B. The lone engineer parked it on a down slope. It eventually rolled away, gained speed, then exploded in downtown Lac-Mégantic, killing 47 people.

Anthony Fernando, chair of the Downsview Community Association, organized a meeting Saturday for residents concerned about the rail corridor that runs directly behind where Sunrise Propane once stood.

“The majority of traffic on the line is consumer goods, diapers, toothpaste, and tires, but from time to time there are dangerous goods,” he said. Fernando added that CN officials told him that about 10 per cent of the goods moved on that line are classified as dangerous.

Rail officials, however, will not specify when hazardous goods are being moved for security reasons, Fernando said.

CN spokesman Patrick Waldron referred specific questions about the rail line to Metrolinx, which has bought the corridor from CN. GO Transit’s Barrie line runs on that line.

Waldron said the railway always shares general information about hazardous goods moving through a community with municipal officials and first responders for emergency planning purposes.

“Railways have a solid record in transporting dangerous goods,” Waldron said, adding that 99.99 per cent of goods and materials reach their destination accident- or release-free.

CP spokesman Ed Greenberg said CP’s focus is always “on safety of our operations, the communities in which we operate and our employees.” CP also works directly with local officials and emergency providers have access to information.

Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne-Marie Aikins said that, as a commuter train service, it does not transport any dangerous materials.

“We maintain our lines to meet Transport Canada and Transport Safety Board regulations,” Aikins added.

Fernando said the Lac-Mégantic tragedy offers a lesson to communities. “There are many rail lines that carry a whole bunch of stuff. We should be aware of what’s moving on those tracks and promote safety,” he said.

Viani said when he and his wife learned of the Quebec train disaster they just cried.

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“We were thinking about what they were going through, the loss of life. The kids and grandparents who lost family members,” he said.

But Viani believes the accident should serve as a wake-up call to governments and regulating authorities about checking on what goods are being moved by rail, whether they are propane, oil or other chemicals.

“I haven’t seen trains with huge tankers pass by, but I don’t know for sure,” Viani said.

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