A shelter for people in difficulty was heavily damaged by a major fire Monday morning in the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough, in Montreal.
“I was sleeping when the alarm went off. I just had time to pick up my bag and went out. When I opened the door, there was a lot of smoke, it was quite scary,” said a resident of the place, dressed only in pajamas and slippers.
According to firefighters, the fire started on the first floor of the building, before spreading to the second floor, then to the roof.
A portion of the neighborhood was enveloped in thick grayish smoke for part of the morning.
The 37 tenants of the building managed to evacuate without being injured. Several of them did not have time to collect their personal belongings before leaving the building. They will be taken care of by representatives of the Red Cross.
“It is really important to quickly evacuate the building when you hear the alarm and to set up a meeting place to be sure that no one is missing,” recalled the head of the Security Service section. Montreal fire, Émilie Barbeau-Charlebois.
By mid-morning, the fire was still out of control and a general alarm had been sounded. This means that around 150 firefighters were on site to fight the blaze.
A firefighter had to be taken to hospital after injuring his ankle during the intervention.
The damage to the building will certainly amount to several hundred thousand dollars. The building was damaged last October due to water damage. The repair work was about to be completed, said a local resident.
The cause of the blaze has still not been established.
