“The Good God” will take them in hand

Photo Alix Villeneuve
The 59 Schoolchildren, Cap-Chat, where the tragedy occurred. In mortise, stuffed animals have been placed on the premises by residents of the municipality. The twins Jade and Mya who have perished in the flames had just 1 year.

Martin Lavoie and
Arnaud Koenig-Soutière

Sunday, October 8, 2017 10:06

UPDATE
Sunday, October 8, 2017 23:34

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The small town of Cap-Chat, in Gaspésie, quebec, was shattered, Sunday, after the tragic death of a mother and her twins are barely 1 year in a fire in their home.

Julie Lemieux, 37 years old, and her babies Jade and Mya were alone in their home in a duplex from the street of Schoolchildren when the fire was born a little before 4 a.m.

Photo courtesy

Photo courtesy

Interviewed by The Newspaper, the father of the young victims and the grandparents were struggling to understand what happened.

Devastated, the father of the children, Dany-Douglas Valley, said he is ” without words “, especially the fact that the body will not be exposed. According to him, Julie Lemieux had the habit of cooking late in the evening on a track that is not ruled out by the investigators.

“It was only young children. They have not had the chance to live a long time, ” says the grand-father Adeodatus Valley, the voice knotted with emotion.

“They were not even baptized, he continued. But this is not serious. The Good God will take them in hand. “

Investigators were still on the scene Sunday evening, to attempt to elucidate the circumstances that led to the blaze.

Photo Alix Villeneuve

Alarmed by the smell

The disaster could have been a fourth victim. The eldest daughter of Ms. Lemieux’s 14-year-old, spent the night in the immediate neighbourhood, Joselito Savard and Karine Valley. It is these latter who have dialed 911.

“I was awakened by a smell of smoke,” says Mr. Savard, who, seeing nothing in his house, is released to the outside to identify from where came the smell.

“I clearly saw that it came from the home of my neighbor and the fire was taken. I called the 911. I found it quite long before they arrive. I was in a panic. I wanted to do something to help, but it was impossible. It was evil at heart, ” added Mr. Savard.

Three calls

The witness said that he saw flames at the rear to escape from the kitchen and climb higher than the second level.

“We saw the tank Cap-Chat to arrive, and that of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts) at the same time,” said Ms. Valley, which has also been found that the reaction time was long.

All in all, she and her husband have called 911 three times. The two municipalities at a distance of 16 km, share their equipment to a fire. The fire fighters stated to be occurred 12 minutes after the call has been housed (see another text).

The relationship of friendship between the neighbours ‘ children and the eldest daughter of the victim will have saved the lives of the latter. “She sleeps here every weekend,” says Mr. Savard, who has kept the binoculars it was just two weeks.

“It’s going to be tough but we will get through it, takes the grand-father of the young victims. What do you want them to do… We can not change nature. It is the destiny. We’ll take the top. “

— With the collaboration of Alix Villeneuve

No smoke detector in the housing

Carol Dugas, the chief of the fire brigade of the municipalities of Cap-Chat and Saint-Anne-des-Monts, was appalled to see that the smoke detectors had been removed from the housing where the three victims were found.

The building has been completely renovated last year, says the mayor of Cap-Chat Judes Landry, who knew the mother ” out of sight “.

The municipal regulation requires that each dwelling or housing must have a smoke alarm between ” each area where people sleep and the rest of the house “.

“It is a HLM (low-rental housing or subsidized housing) and detectors are provided, but it was not found. There were at the neighbors, ” sorry Carol Dugas.

According to him, what are the combustion gases that have led to the death of the victims. These have resulted in an explosion powerful enough to “tear off” a window of the apartment, according to the chief of the fire brigade.

The twenty firefighters put between 35 and 40 minutes to extinguish the blaze.

The fire was powerful enough to devour the floor of the first floor, above the kitchen, where the flames have taken their source.

Photo Alix Villeneuve

The grandparents of the twins testified their grief.

12 minutes to intervene

A spear of fire was in operation on the site of the tragedy a dozen of minutes after the triggering of the alert, according to Mr. Dugas.

The maximum period mentioned in the coverage plan of 15 minutes.

The mayor of the village of a little over 2600 souls has called the event a ” tragedy “. “It is always sad when it happens in a small municipality. You have to live with, but it is unfortunate, ” said Judes Landry in an interview with TVA News.

A dozen neighbors had to be evacuated, but they were able to return to their homes quickly. Nobody else was injured.

Although the housing set on fire has been ravaged, the house immediately adjacent to the duplex would not have suffered damages. The favourable wind and a fire wall have served the tenants.

The tragedy occurred on the same day that was the Week of the prevention of fires, including kitchen fires.

— With the special collaboration of Alix Villeneuve