One apartment resident and four firefighters suffered minor injuries in a five-alarm fire in Verdun on Saturday morning.

The fire started just before 7:00 a.m. According to the Montreal fire department’s Twitter, it started in the third floor of a six-story apartment building on 6th Ave. near Wellington as a one-alarm fire. When firefighters arrived, the flames had already spread to the roof and by 7:20 a.m., it had been upgraded to five-alarms.

The resident was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation while the firefighters fell from the building's roof to the third floor, a distance of approximately five feet.

 

Six buildings, totalling 36 apartments, were evacuated, with 100 people being forced to leave their homes. 

Michael Congonidis wasn't at home when the fire started, but arrived at around 7:30 a.m. He said he was thankful his daughter wasn't with him to see the black smoke pouring out of the building. 

"There seemed to be a lot of water damage. I just spoke to my neighbour who lives above me and they told him it's a total loss, but on the other side, some people are being told it might be just some water damage," he said. "We still don't know anything."

Firefighters said smoke and water damage will leave four buildings closed until renovations can be completed. Many of those people are receiving help from the Red Cross, which will provide shelter for two to three nights.

"The Red Cross will support us for three days, provide some lodging of some sort and maybe some money to eat but after those three days, a lot of people don't have insurance and don't know what to do," said Congnidis. "I'm lucky I have friends and family close by to help me out."

6th Ave. was closed between Wellington and de Verdun.

In total, 50 trucks and 125 firefighters were dispatched to the scene, which was brought under control by 8:30 a.m.

The cause of the fire is not yet known, but firefighters said there is no reason to believe it was criminal in nature. 

Firefighters were also sent to a seperate fire nearby at around 10:30 a.m., this one located in a two-story building on 5th Ave. and Wellington, which housed a commercial establishment on the bottom floor and under-construction condominiums on top.

Firefighters said they don't believe the fires are related and nobody was forced to leave the structure.