A city subcontractor hired to thaw frozen pipes nearly set a house in NDG-Cote-des-Neiges on fire last month.

The record-setting cold this season has been breaking water mains and freezing pipes all across the island, forcing the City of Montreal to hire private contractors to keep up with demand.

The worker sent an electrical current through the line –- a common de-frosting method -- which sent flames into Greg McWhirter’s home on Harvard Ave.

His pipes frozen, McWhirter, heard a noise in the kitchen and was fortunate enough to act fast.

“I saw flames coming up from behind the fridge,” he said.

“You're shocked! You go into a bit of a panic mode especially when you get a fire and then another fire and then a fire upstairs.”

Along with the fridge, small fires started in the dishwasher, inside the furnace room and part of the natural gas line needed to be replaced with signs of heat damage.

“It turns out that anything that was hooked up to the water main was passing current,” said McWhirter.

His landlord said there was almost $14,000 worth of damage; she feels the borough should pay.

A few days following the incident, a neighbouring house had the same problem with the same contractor, a towing company named Remorquage Taz.

There may have been a problem with the wiring of the homes in question, said the contractor.

The company came recommended by the City of Montreal, said Cote-des-Neiges-NDG Borough Mayor Russell Copeman.

“We used the company that was assigned to us,” he said. “We had two very unfortunate incidents early in the process. We supervised them as soon as we were made aware of them. They've done successfully 50 or so, they've unblocked successfully 50 or so addresses with two incidents,” said Copeman.

The borough says the companies they employ to defrost pipes aren't required to have any special certification, like that of an electrician or a plumber.

While they acknowledge there may have been some human error involved in the jobs on Harvard Ave. they say they have confidence in the contractors they employ and intend to continue using Remorquage Taz.

“It makes you wonder why wasn't I informed of what was taking place and what were the dangers when this process was being performed on the frozen pipe,” said McWhirter.

City contractors are especially busy this winter with the record cold temperatures freezing pipes across the island.

Using electric current on the pipes is a common way to warm them up, but Copeman says he intends to recommend changes

“Once this crisis is over it will be my recommendation to the centre city that we examine the qualifications necessary for this kind of work,” he said.