Firefighters responded to a general alert during the night from Thursday to Friday. (Photo Gaétan Prégent)
A two-story residence was completely devastated by a fire which broke out around 1 a.m. last night at 3, rue Victor-Léger in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, opposite the new Seniors’ House.
According to division head Christian Poulin, the four residents of the house were able to evacuate the blaze in time without being injured. “Already, when the firefighters were heading towards the scene, they could see a plume of smoke and an orange glow in the sky,” he said, which testifies to the scale of the fire.
(Photo Gaétan Prégent)
The Salaberry-de-Valleyfield fire brigade team under the direction of operations chief Alain Lauzon fought the flames until the early hours this morning, when the fire was considered under control around 5:30 a.m. Precautions were taken to prevent the flames from spreading to neighboring buildings. Hydro-Québec also cut power in the area for a certain period of time.
Their colleagues from Saint-Barbe and Vaudreuil-Dorion came as reinforcements while those from Beauharnois provided territory coverage. The Community Emergency Measures Unit (UCMU) was also on site.
The origin of the fire remains unknown at this time. This is why an investigation will be carried out by fire scene technicians from the Sûreté du Québec to shed light on the situation. Everything indicates that the blaze was started from outside the building.
-First on scene
Furthermore, a young couple who passed by quickly intervened to call 9-1-1 and help the victims.
“Me and my girlfriend were coming back from vacation, coming from the airport. In the car, we already felt the smell of smoke in the air and when we turned the corner we saw the house in flames, says Yoan Demers. We immediately called 9-1-1. At the same time people were leaving the house, we took them into the car so they could warm up.”
Yoan Demers also helped quickly track down one of the four survivors whose trace we were temporarily looking for.
The house is a total loss estimated at a few hundred thousand dollars, not including the two vehicles that were also on the property. (Photo Eric Tremblay)
Canada
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