A major fire raged in a 14-story apartment building in the Sainte-Foy sector of Quebec.
According to the spokesperson for the Quebec Fire Protection Service, Bill Noonan, firefighters received nearly twenty calls around 10:45 a.m. to report the fire at 2855, chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois, a building in the project real estate Flo Apartments.
A large column of smoke was visible, which allowed firefighters to quickly raise the alarm.
In total, around 70 sappers are mobilized.
The building contains just over 160 rental units, but only half of them were occupied as it was still under construction.
The 30 occupants and 30 workers present on the scene were evacuated.
The damage is limited to a small part of the exterior cladding, a portion of the roof and approximately four dwellings which cannot be reinstated. The Red Cross took care of the occupants of these accommodations.
The fire was believed to have been caused by welding work. According to initial findings, sparks from the work ignited construction materials at the foot of the building and the fire quickly spread to the roof through the unfinished exterior covering.
