The Bon-Pasteur chapel located on Sherbrooke Street East in Montreal was engulfed in flames late Thursday afternoon.
The Montreal Fire Department (SIM) received a call around 4:30 p.m. regarding smoke coming from the building.
The fire that originated in the attic quickly spread, forcing the triggering of a fifth alarm and the deployment of 150 firefighters, said Robert Rousseau, section chief at the SIM.
Around 7 p.m., the flames had still not been brought under control.
A firefighter would have been injured, but the latter would have refused transport by ambulance, indicated Mr. Rousseau who specifies however that no other person was injured.
“It is still too early to see the damage suffered by the precious heritage building, but there is no death or injury,” tweeted the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, thanking the SIM teams.
It should also be noted that the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) was called in to help ensure traffic around the security perimeter, said Jeanne Drouin, spokesperson for the SPVM.
The historic building housed the offices of Héritage Montréal and a performance hall.
“We work at Heritage Montreal. We work on files like that every day, buildings that burn down. Then to see our building burnt down is truly an exceptional emotion, a tragedy. We don’t know any more for the moment and we can’t wait to find out what happened,” said an employee of Heritage Montreal.
According to information collected by TVA Nouvelles, a show was to take place this evening at the Bon-Pasteur chapel.
“We could smell the wood being burned,” said a woman who was part of the choir that was to perform at the chapel. The latter also mentioned that about thirty people would have been evacuated.
“We were supposed to have the concert […] All music equipment is inside, even our personal belongings,” she said.
