Flames erupted into a thick column of smoke that took the shape of a mushroom as it billowed skyward on Thursday night, rattling people who live near a normally quiet Toronto park.
Not to fret: it was for a film shoot, the police said. And there were signs that Drake, who shared images of the explosion on his Instagram account shortly after it happened, had something to do with it.
“You could feel it in your chest,” said Beth McKellar, a registered massage therapist who has lived near Downsview Park for about a decade and reported hearing three distinct “boom” sounds. “It sounded like, I don’t know what else to say, but a bomb.”
Her 12-year-old son was shaken awake and their neighbors peeked out of their town homes, Ms. McKellar said, but they didn’t have a view of the plume of smoke.
“We were traumatized,” said Rosanna Iaboni, a longtime resident of the Downsview neighborhood who was getting ready for bed when the thunderous noise erupted around 10:30 p.m. “The whole house shook. Our bed shook. Everything shook.”
Ms. Iaboni said she ran downstairs to check her front door, which was blown off in an explosion at a nearby propane plant in August 2008. The explosion, at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gasses, killed one plant employee and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents. A firefighter died of a heart attack while responding to the blast.
Ashley Visser, a spokeswoman for the Toronto police, said in an email that the explosion that startled so many people on Thursday was a “controlled incident” that was “part of a movie shoot.”
On Friday, the organization that manages the park apologized for “the distress that may have been caused” by the blast. “We understand that the unexpected sounds were alarming and unsettling for many and we are sorry,” Downsview Park, a government-owned corporation, said in a statement.
The organization had warned earlier in the week that neighbors may hear loud noises and see flashes of light or smoke “for short periods of time.”
“They’re describing fireworks and we get an explosion,” Ms. Iaboni said, adding that the area is home to many seniors who lack access to social media and may not have seen the notice. “I can’t imagine how frightened they must have been, especially if it was a flashback to what we experienced in 2008,” she said.
Not long after the boom, the Toronto-born rapper Drake shared two photos of the explosion on his Instagram account.
Both were taken from far away: One image showed a massive cloud of smoke against a gray sky, and the other a red-hot ball of flame whose glow turned the clouds a bright shade of pinkish purple.
Fans on social media speculated that the explosion was part of a video shoot for an album called “Iceman” that Drake has been teasing around the city, including by covering two courtside seats at a Toronto Raptors game this week with a substance resembling frost.
A representative for Drake did not respond to a request for comment, but the City of Toronto confirmed in an emailed statement on Friday that a special-effects filming permit had been issued for “a production associated with the artist known as Drake” at the location where the explosion took place on Thursday night.
“Any productions planning to use pyrotechnics are required to work with Toronto Fire for approval, and with Toronto Police Services to include a paid duty police officer,” the statement said. Residents, business owners and business improvement areas also must receive at least 48 hours notice, the city said.
Another clue to the Drake tie was the title of the filming project, “Project Bot.” Drake has been embroiled in a beef with the Grammy award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar, with Drake accusing Universal Music Group of using “bots” to artificially boost streaming numbers on Mr. Lamar’s music.
Andrea Phillips, a location manager for the shoot, declined to comment on any details of what was being filmed, but she praised the city’s well-established film industry.
“A lot of productions come here because they have the confidence in the crews,” she said.
John Yoon contributed reporting.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter for The Times based in Toronto, where she covers news from across Canada.
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