The Saint-Alphonse couple who tried to obtain compensation following a fire that occurred in their garage almost four years ago were rejected by the Superior Court, which instead ruled in favor of the Municipality in this case.
Claudine Laviolette and Martin Kenny filed an appeal in March 2021. They originally claimed nearly $300,000 in damages. According to the judgment of which Radio-Canada obtained a copy, this amount was however revised downwards during the proceedings to approximately $236,000.
The plaintiffs held the Saint-Alphonse fire department responsible for the complete destruction of their garage and the damage caused to their residence on July 13, 2020. They criticized the fire department for not having reacted more quickly when a fire broke out. birth around 3 p.m. that day.
The couple also mentioned poor communications problems since the pager system intended to alert the firefighters did not fully work.
In his decision of June 6, judge Jacques Blanchard ruled that the firefighters acted diligently and professionally and that the fire department’s strike force was assembled within the time frame provided for in the implementation plan of the Municipality’s fire risk coverage plan
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The plan and its implementation plan provide, according to court documents, that the Saint-Alphonse fire department deploys eight firefighters to the scene of a fire within 35 to 40 minutes, and this, with 15,000 liters of water. (Archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Léa Beauchesne
The magistrate specifies that the breakage of certain pagers was unforeseeable and cannot constitute a fault. Indeed, it turns out that the devices were all tested the day before the fire, as every Sunday, without revealing the slightest operating problem.
we can read in the judgment.
The Court cannot ignore that in a rural area, it is difficult to mobilize the required number of resources in less than seven minutes, especially since few volunteer firefighters were employed in this municipality on the day of the fire.
Judge Blanchard recalls that on a legal level, Saint-Alphonse benefits from a relative immunity
under the Fire Safety Act. This means that the plaintiffs must prove that the firefighters were grossly negligent to succeed, which they have failed to do.
specifies the Superior Court judge.
The plaintiffs have 30 days to appeal the Superior Court’s judgment.
An accidental fire
Martin Kenny accidentally cut the diesel distribution pipe of a wheeled multi-purpose vehicle while working in his garage on the day of the fire. This action started the fire on hot welding pieces which were then on the floor of the building.
After trying to extinguish the blaze himself, the man went directly to the municipal garage to alert the firefighters, since the cellular network was not working properly in this area.
The volunteer firefighters from Saint-Alphonse arrived on site a few minutes after those from Caplan, called for reinforcements. Due to the widespread conflagration observed on site, the firefighters adopted a defensive strategy by watering the exterior of the building and avoiding entering it, a tactic which the Court also deemed justified.
According to an expert cited in the decision, the presence of accelerant and fuel in the garage, combined with the opening of the building door, contributed to the spread of the fire.
