An arson fire broke out Friday in a youth hostel in Old Montreal, which was “unsafe,” according to several customer testimonies. At a press conference, the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SIM) nevertheless affirmed that the establishment had been brought up to standard in recent months.
The fire, which broke out around 2:30 a.m. at 402, rue Notre-Dame Est, left two dead and two injured, according to our information.
The blaze is said to have started on the ground floor of this century-old building. It then quickly spread throughout the three-story building located at the corner of Bonsecours and Notre-Dame Est streets.
The building ravaged by the flames housed short-term rental rooms on the second and third floors.
The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) expects there to be other victims, but did not provide further information Friday afternoon. It will take several days for firefighters to search the rubble, police warn.
An investigation was handled by the major crimes section.
Feeling like you’re in a shoebox
Although the division head of SIM Martin Guilbeault affirmed at a press conference Friday afternoon that the building was safe
testimonies from customers and survivors of the fire suggest that the building notably lacked windows.
Thomas Sawer, a young German tourist who has been in Canada for a week, says he left the building in an emergency last night.
Still shaken by the event, he testified about the accommodation conditions in which he was housed. His room had no no window
he told CBC, the English network of Radio-Canada.
No windows, a small room, just the bed. I felt like I was in a shoebox. The windows didn’t open, that’s all. Nothing more, just a fire alarm and a switch.
Mr. Sawer said he was woken up by the fire alarm shortly after 2:30 a.m.
I opened the door and saw people leaving. I was lucky I hadn’t unpacked my backpack, so I grabbed it and ran towards the exit. The smoke was already starting to spread… Quickly, I found myself in the street. I saw a woman in her pajamas, she told me there was a fire in the kitchen, and when we looked, there was an explosion and the fire broke out. We all started running
he explains.
The young tourist considers himself lucky
to have escaped the blaze.
Other witnesses to the fire also confirmed to Radio-Canada that they were in rooms without windows.
Not safe
according to customers
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Around thirty firefighters were at work to fight the fire which ravaged a building on Notre-Dame Street in Old Montreal, on the night of October 3 to 4, 2024
Photo : Charles-Philippe David
On Google, many Internet users presenting themselves as former clients who stayed in rental units at 402 Notre-Dame Est have shared in recent months, even in recent weeks, reviews suggesting that the building was not not safe.
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Furthermore, the Montreal Journal et The Duty visited 402 Notre-Dame Est last year and reported that some rooms did not have windows.
A customer who was in the establishment when the fire broke out told Radio-Canada that he stayed in a windowless room during the first night of his stay, before asking for another room because his neighbor was too much noise.
The man, who asked that his identity remain confidential, said he knocked on all the doors on the third floor and those he was able to reach on the second floor, before leaving the building.
The fire alarm was working, but the stairs were not equipped with security lighting, he said.
Two fires, same owner
According to the City of Montreal’s property assessment roll, this building belonged to the lawyer Emile Benamor, who also owned the heritage building on Place D’Youville which was ravaged by a fire in March 2023. This blaze had caused seven victims.
Furthermore, the Quebec Ministry of Tourism has confirmed that the youth hostel at 402 Notre-Dame Est is operated by the company numbered 9395-8585 Québec inc., which is administered by Robert Sebbag and Neir Abiddisan.
In 2023, Neir Abiddisan, the vice-president of the company which administers this hostel, admitted that two rooms in his establishment did not have windows, specifying that the plans had been approved by an architect and by the City of Montreal.
For the families of the victims of Place D’Youville, it is dismay. The father of Charlie Lacroix, who died in the fire on March 16, 2023, deplores that so little was done to avoid a new tragedy.
We don’t know all the facts, but there are a lot of similarities between the two cases. It seems incomprehensible. It doesn’t seem like there has been any change. We are in the same place as 18 months ago and no one has learned anything.
The father of one of the seven victims had filed a $22 million class action lawsuit on behalf of the victims’ relatives and survivors against the owner of the burned building, Emile Benamor. The latter also filed a civil action for 7.5 million against the City of Montreal.
Inspections
According to our information, the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SIM) had identified elements of non-compliance in the building as part of operation VULCAIN, launched after the March 2023 fire in Mr. Benamor’s building .
However, these flaws were apparently corrected last May. A new fire alarm system would have been installed, and the emergency exits would have been deemed compliant by the Fire Safety Service.
At the Ministry of Tourism, we confirm that 402 Notre-Dame was indeed registered with the Corporation de l’industrie tourisme du Québec (CITQ) as being a youth hostel
.
According to property records, in 2021, Emile Benamor applied for a $10,000 permit to build a 20 room hotel
in this building on rue Notre-Dame.
With information from Stéphane Bordeleau, Pascal Robidas and Jérôme Labbé