A fire caused heavy damages overnight to a pizzeria and a hardware store in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.
The fire began at 1:30 a.m. in the basement of the New Milano pizzeria, on De Marseille Street near Langelier Blvd., and quickly spread to the second floor and adjoining building.
It was a resident living on the second floor who noticed the smoke coming out of the basement. He alerted 9-1-1 and woke up his neighbours.
The four apartments above the businesses were evacuated on time and no one was hurt.
About 60 firefighters were at the scene and it was under control by 4:30 a.m.
Fire operation chief Michel Girard said it was extremely difficult for firefighters to combat the flames in these frigid temperatures.
Girard explained the cause of the fire was a heating unit placed unsafely close to something flammable.
Girard also warned citizens to be careful when using these units and not to leave them unsupervised.
The two-alarm fire caused over $200,000 in damages to both businesses, mainly to the pizzeria.
Residents above the hardware store were able to return to their apartments, but the ones above the pizzeria are uninhabitable.
