Citizens affected by Sunday's explosion at a propane facility in North York are urged to be patient as their lives slowly return to normal.
About 3,000 of the 12,500 evacuated in the area around Sunrise Propane still have yet to return home, after asbestos was found by the Ontario Fire Marshal's office.
Acting Deputy Mayor Shelley Carroll said people need to abide by what emergency officials tell them.
"Residents returning to their homes have by and large been very cooperative with police," Carroll noted. "They need to be patient with Enbridge in restoring gas services. They're going door-to-door and making sure it is safe to turn on the gas in your home."
Carroll, who was filling in for an out-of-town Mayor David Miller Sunday, added that the Ontario Fire Marshal's investigation into what caused the blast is ongoing.
"The site, Sunrise Propane itself, is now an investigation site. (The Ontario Fire Marshal's office) needs to be able to do their work," she said. "It's important we know the cause of the blast and were they adhering to all the regulations? We need to look into the records and evaluate and for most of yesterday it was impossible to get close enough to the site to get those details."
The Acting Deputy Mayor responded to criticism that communication between emergency officials, the media and the public could have been better. Some residents complained they were hearing two different stories on when they could return home - one from police, another from the City.
"To be fair, since midnight last night, our main communication concern has been the residents themselves,"Carroll explained. "There was confusion. Unfortunately when we ended the evacuation we did say this was going to happen over the next few hours. Immediately after that announcement, the asbestos discovery was made in some of the houses close to the site. So communicating with those residents was the first thing we did."
"You've got police, fire, EMS, you've got Toronto building services trying to make sure all the homes are structurally safe. You've got shelter services trying to interact. We worry about the communications between each other. (It's a) hard choice to make."
Carroll praised the media for helping to inform the public what to do and what not to do in the wake of Sunday's terrifying events.
It's unclear how long it will be before a cause is determined.