Major fire in a building in the city centre of Montreal

Pascal Girard/QMI AGENCY

QMI agency

Saturday, march 24, 2018 07:53

UPDATE
Saturday, march 24, 2018 07:53

Look at this article

MONTREAL – A fire raged in a residential building and shopping area of Bishop street, between the rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest and René-Lévesque boulevard West, in downtown Montréal, on Saturday morning.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 5: 20 a.m. Saturday morning, a fire that originated in a housing located on the third floor of the building.

“Upon our arrival, smoke and flames were coming out of the third and the roof,” described Martin Farmer, spokesperson for the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM).

The intensity of the fire, and the difficulty that had the fire to fight have necessitated the evacuation not only of the residents of the building, but also of two neighbouring buildings. Nobody has, however, been injured.

Difficult to combat

Mr. Farmer was expected Saturday morning that the work of firefighters to control and extinguish the fire continue for part of the day, as the task was complicated.

“We had to evacuate the firefighters out of fear that the roof might collapse, he continued. So, we do not have access to the seat of the fire and proceed outside.”

According to Mr. Farmer, the strength of the building also helps make the fire difficult to extinguish, especially because of the amount of material that could fuel the fire. More than 120 firefighters responded to the scene.

Bishop street was closed between the rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest and René-Lévesque boulevard West, on Saturday morning, and could remain so for part of the day, the time the fire was under control and that the SIM is conducting its investigation to determine the cause.