The Montreal fire department has added more than 100 buildings to its vacant and dangerous list after serious omissions were revealed last fall.

Abandoned by their owners and left in disrepair there are hundreds of vacant buildings throughout the city boarded up windows, structural problems and graffiti.

They're not just eyesores – many of Montreal's empty buildings are potentially dangerous, in particular for firefighters.

It’s not uncommon for some to catch fire, like the heritage building in Chinatown that went up in flames last November.

When a fire breaks out, firefighters rely on the department's database of vacant and dangerous buildings.

“When there's a call that comes in, the address will pop up on the computer and the 911 dispatcher will be able to read out to the firefighters a short three-line resume of what may be wrong with the building,” explained Chris Ross, vice president of the Montreal Firefighters Association.

Firefighters are required to make quick decisions when they respond to a call. An abandoned building could, for example, contain any number of hazardous materials.

Last fall the union learned that there was a major discrepancy between the fire department's list and the lists each borough was keeping.

After the discovery, all on-island municipalities shifted to following a formal tracking system.

“All the boroughs are doing it at least weekly and some of them more often than weekly,” said Gordon Routley, division chief of the Montreal fire department.

The department recently reviewed 600 buildings it wasn't previously aware of and found 118 met its criteria for dangerous and vacant. They were added to the list.

Ross said the next step will be for firefighters to visit these new additions, because it's important for them to have a mental image of what's inside.

“You have to realize that when that building's on fire and our members show up we don't have 15 minutes to sit down, take notes and establish a plan. We have about five seconds to decide what we're going to do,” he said.

The hope is the new system will make an already dangerous job less risky.

“It could be a lifesaving bit of information in the right circumstances,” said Routley.