one death and 143 people to be rehoused

The blaze is believed to have started on the 8th floor of the Vieux-Moulin residence, located on Notre-Dame Street East. The flames then spread to the upper floor, at the top of the building. Although some are talking about a kitchen fire, firefighters are preferring to stick to “an unknown cause” for now.

Emergency services were notified around 2:15 p.m. The general alert was triggered, and firefighters from Shawinigan and Saint-Maurice were called in as reinforcements, said Dany Cloutier, head of the fire department for the City of Trois-Rivières.

In addition to numerous emergency vehicles, two ladder trucks were deployed. When firefighters arrived, flames were visible. Witnesses say they have rarely seen a blaze of such intensity. More than two hours after the start of operations, residents were still being evacuated, many of whom had mobility and health problems.

The paramedics apparently carried out a few transports. At around 4:45 p.m., the Trois-Rivières fire chief was unable to provide a human toll of the intervention, not providing any information on the nature of the injuries of the people being treated or on the possibility of potential victims. It was only later that the death of a resident of the building was confirmed.

Several witnesses reported seeing the victim in distress on her eighth-floor balcony, screaming, “I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die,” as intense flames shot out from the apartment behind her.

“It was full of smoke”

Several testify to a laborious evacuation: “We went out into the stairwell. It was full of smoke. I had to walk down from the ninth floor. A firefighter took my walker down,” says Ms. Guimond, a 79-year-old resident.

Shortly before 5 p.m., the firefighters were still working to ensure that the fire was no longer smoldering. Once the flames were contained, a long sweeping operation began, from floor to floor, to assess the state of the place. In the street, the OMH people were handing out apples and bottles of water, trying to stem the exasperation that was growing among the victims.

Mass evacuation and lack of medicines

It was only around 8 p.m., after hunger and fatigue had set in, that the evacuees were able to learn a little more about their fate. Those who had not found a new place to live for themselves – perhaps forty or so victims – were eventually transported to the Industrial Building in the Parc de l’Exposition, which had been transformed into a makeshift shelter for the occasion.

It appears that beyond the damage caused by water and fire, there were fears that electrical problems could occur due to short circuits. The reintegration of the building is therefore excluded until further notice, placing the authorities in a major logistical headache.

So it was in the dark that the residents boarded city buses, not to be transported, but to finally receive instructions on what to do next.

Between the firefighters, Civil Security, the Red Cross and the managers of the Municipal Housing Office, many wondered where the health officials were. “What do I do for my medication?” repeated several.

It was only when the evacuation instructions began to circulate that representatives from the CIUSSS arrived. We then proceeded to identify everyone’s needs in order to send the firefighters to collect essential personal effects from the floors. “We all feel like crying,” sighed one unfortunate woman.

The coming and going stretched late into the night. We will have to wait until the time of the assessments to know exactly how many have found new housing for themselves, and how many have been taken in by the Red Cross.

At the Municipal Housing Office, crisis management is underway, as it appears that the residents of the 7th and 8th floors will have to be rehoused in the longer term. The fate of the other tenants in the building also remains to be determined. All this, in the midst of a housing crisis.