A house reduced to ashes in Saint-Georges, in Beauce

A violent fire completely destroyed a residence Friday evening in the heart of downtown Saint-Georges, in Beauce. Dozens of firefighters are on the scene and there could be victims inside.

Around 5 p.m., the City of Saint-Georges fire department was called to the scene of a large blaze at the corner of 120^e Street and 8^e Avenue.

On site, firefighters noted that the building engulfed in flames was heavily damaged. They immediately took a defensive approach to limit the spread to adjacent buildings.

“It’s a widespread conflagration,” notes the director of the fire service, Frédéric Morin. The fire spread to a warehouse located next door and to another building, so we had to intervene on several buildings.

Mr. Morin is not able to confirm whether or not people were in the home at the time of the fire.

The Sûreté du Québec “does checks” to determine if there are victims.

Propagation majeure

According to Mr. Morin, the flames were so fierce that embers reached the roof of a carpet store located on the other side of the street and started a fire. A storage building next to the house also caught fire.

A large plume of smoke and flames was still visible in the surrounding area almost an hour after the start of the blaze.

“We are currently putting out the various fires and the debris that remains in the house,” explains the director of the fire department.