It was the second fire to occur in the same place in the space of a few days. (Photo Archives)
A second suspicious fire in the space of four days broke out last night in a semi-detached house on rue De Beaupré in Ville Mercier.
Firefighters from the Mercier Fire Department were called to the scene around 3:30 a.m. last night, said director Éric Steingue. “When we arrived, the entire right side of the building was on fire,” he said. However, this portion of the semi-detached building is not inhabited.
The residents of the neighbouring building were, however, able to be evacuated in time. “It was lucky that a neighbour was able to raise the alarm quickly last night, otherwise the whole building could have gone up in flames and there could have been casualties,” notes Mr Steingue.
Mercier firefighters went to the same location on June 23 for a fire considered suspicious. This time again, they found traces of accelerant that could explain the origin of the fire. In both cases, the file was forwarded to the Mercier police, who could incidentally call on the services of the SQ.
Around twenty firefighters took part in the operations to limit the extent of the damage. Among them, firefighters from Mercier, Châteauguay and Beauharnois, while the Saint-Urbain-Premier Fire Department took over.
