It's raining glass in Toronto

It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls

I'm not much of a TV watcher but I do periodically try and catch the news. Yesterday there was yet another report of glass from Condo balconies in downtown Toronto raining down on the sidewalks many feet below. I think this is about the 8th time in as many months that this has happened. Fortunately only one woman was hurt when she suffered minor cuts on her wrists. As busy as the streets are in the city, this amazes me.

The news report was quite fascinating last night. They talked about the pros and cons of tempered vs laminated glass. Using glass similar to the windshield of cars that don't shatter was presented as an option, but if that slipped from its' mooring it would fall in one big sheet. With the momentum and speed that would be picked up on the way down, anyone hit by it on the ground would suffer much more serious injuries than just minor cuts. So really not a reasonable option.

But the perplexing question is why. Why is that suddenly all this glass is shattering and falling. Several buildings are affected so you can not really look to the contractor unless they all use identical shoddy workmanship in the same areas. It is doubtful that the same supplier was used for all the building materials. Each building probably had different architects and engineers. I don't know how many building inspectors the city has but that should be investigated.

Now the thing that bothers me about this whole issue and I do not claim to be a contractor, inspector, architect or engineer.. I am intrigued by the fact that the balconies affected all seem to be fairly high up on the buildings...nothing on the 10th floor or lower? The same construction etc on all floors one would think. On last nights news report they were showing how strong the type of glass used actually was and they rammed a 2x4 into it to try and break a pane. Several attempts failed. What finally shattered it was a blow with a hammer. So I got to thinking...all the broken panes seem to be falling from 30 floors and up with no specific building being targeted. And therein lies the foundation of my musing. Intentional vandalism. Someone from another building doing some target practice with a BB gun or some other projectile. When you look at the thumbtack size pieces of glass that have rained down onto the streets below, there is no way that anyone could piece it together to find a shattering point. 

I'm not saying it's a for sure or even if I really believe...I'm just saying maybe and perhaps other scenarios should be considered for this phenomenon. Surely this isn't the hottest or driest summer we have ever had that could be causing glass to shrink from its moorings and randomly fall...

PS News report from last night spoke of 15 incidents since last December and although many more buildings have been affected only two developers have been. The glass will be replaced by laminated panes. I hope they don't fall...