Yellowknife (Aug 22/03) - Three condos at Forrest Drive Manor B were hit by flying rock last Friday when an excavation blast went wrong.

No one was injured in the explosion set by NWT Rock Services, but flying rock tore through the roof of one condo and the wall of another, breaking a door and a window.

"The wall above my living room window is cracked," said Shirley McGrath, who lives on the first floor.

McGrath and her son came home at 5:30 p.m. and found her neighbours standing outside looking at the damage.

Lance Gomolchuk, operations manager for NWT Rock Services, said there wasn't enough explosive in the first hole of an eight-hole shot.

Since the first hole didn't blast enough rock, "it caused the number five hole to do twice as much work," Golumchuk said.

The energy from the first blast went up and threw off the blasting mats, leaving the number five hole uncovered when it went off, Gomolchuk said.

"It shot up and threw rock," he said.

Dave McCann, property manager of Mackenzie Management, said "it's pretty simple who's responsible. NWT Rock will have to co-ordinate repairs."

NWT Rock was blasting for a Nova Builders project at the time of the blast.