The file of the fatal fire at Place D’Youville in the hands of the DPCP | Fire in Old Montreal

The two parallel investigations carried out by the homicide section and the arson section of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) into the deadly fire at Place D’Youville, in Old Montreal, are now complete. The files have been being analyzed for several weeks by experienced prosecutors from the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP).

According to our information, two individuals are in the sights of investigators from the SPVM.

The first, for the homicide of seven people who died in the blaze that he is suspected of having started voluntarily.

The second, for criminal negligence causing death in connection with the standards relating to fires which are in force in the building where the victims perished.

According to our sources, the analysis of the homicide investigation report could know its conclusions – in the best scenario – as quickly as mid-November.

The deadlines for concluding the study of the other investigation into standards related to fires could take more than 18 months.

We do not currently have any public information regarding your requestsaid the communications office of the DPCP in response to questions from Radio-Canada on the two files submitted to its lawyers.

For its part, the SPVM commented briefly on the conclusion of his criminal investigations. The Montreal police nevertheless recognize that this is a major step in the case of the deadliest fire in the last 50 years in the metropolis.

We confirm that we have submitted our files to the DPCP shortly before the summer season. We are awaiting the conclusions of the analysis of the evidence submitted to file charges, or provide further investigationbriefly said the communications director of the SPVMInspector David Shane.

Still according to our information, the specialized investigation teams of the SPVM were accompanied by prosecutors from DPCP in the preparation of the file.

Families plunged into endless waiting

Reached by telephone, Louis-Philippe Lacroix, whose daughter Charlie lost her life in the fire, welcomed the news with some caution.

For our family, the wait is endless. I am a little disillusioned by the slowness of the justice system. If the DPCP only makes its decisions in 18 months, this means that the coroner’s public inquiry cannot start before a year and a half, as long as the criminal aspect is not finishedindicated the bereaved father.

The 18-year-old’s family filed a $1.5 million lawsuit. The civil action targets the City of Montreal, the owner of the burned building as well as an alleged operator of illegal Airbnb accommodation.

The Quebec Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, for his part indicated last Saturday that the investigation into the fire in a building which left at least two dead, on the night of Thursday to Friday last, on the street Notre-Dame in Old Montreal, could be combined with that relating to the fire at Place D’Youville, which occurred in the same area.

According to the City of Montreal’s property assessment roll, the building where the fire occurred, built in 1923, belongs to Emile Benamor, also owner of the heritage building on Place d’Youville which burned down in March 2023.