Lawyer for owner of Old Montreal building speaks out after deadly fire
Lawyer for owner of Old Montreal building speaks out after deadly fire
For the first time, the owner of a building in Old Montreal has responded to questions about the deadly fire — through his lawyer — addressing allegations that the building was unsafe.
In the hours after the fire, questions began to emerge about the building's safety. The family of 18-year-old Charlie Lacroix, one of the seven presumed dead, says she was trapped in a windowless room.
"She made two 911 calls. The first one was to tell them we're stuck, there's a fire everywhere, but there's no windows, so there's no way to escape," said Kelly Ann Seguin, Lacroix's friend.
But Alexandre Bergevin, the lawyer for the owner of the building, Emile-Haim Benamor, told CTV News that the building was up to code.
"He bought this place like that, it was like that. The city came and it was, you know, conform. What can I tell you?" Bergevin said.
ROOM WITH NO WINDOWS
A video posted to Reddit in 2020 shows a windowless room in the building that Lacroix was likely staying in. Bergevin said the unit was near two interior fire escape routes.
"For her, it was possible to get out on the left and on the right," he said, acknowledging there was no window to escape from.
"No," he said, "but if you're living in a building in Montreal, in a tower, you cannot jump out your window if there is a fire alarm. You need to get an escape trail to get out."
As the fire raged in the building, others managed to escape out windows. Some survivors told CTV News they did not hear a fire alarm.
"I did see a fire alarm, like the round tablet, physically, two of them in the unit, but none of them had actually went off," claimed Alina Kuzmina in an interview last Saturday.
A police officer hugs a woman near the site of a building that was gutted by a fire in Montreal, Thursday, March 23, 2023. The heritage building went up in flames last week. Four bodies have been recovered and three people remain missing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
SMOKE ALARMS WORKED, LAWYER SAYS
According to Bergevin, "All units were supposed to have smoke detectors."
He said his client, Benamor, replaced the central alarm system in 2019 and insists maintenance workers checked it was working the morning of the fire.
"It is also the obligation [of] the leasee to have one and to make sure it's working," he added.
Bergevin confirmed Tariq Hasan was renting multiple units in the building and then renting them out on Airbnb. The city, however, does not allow short-term rentals in the area.
A worker is shown next to a building that was gutted by a fire in Montreal, Thursday, March 23, 2023. The heritage building went up in flames last week. Four bodies have been recovered and three people remain missing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Bergevin said Benamor was trying to shut him down. He said two notices were sent in August of last year but the listings stayed up. One former tenant of the building told CTV News that Benamor allowed the operation to continue.
"No, no, that's completely false. I didn't see any evidence. I see only evidence against the assertion," he said.
Hasan and his lawyer both declined to comment on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Bergevin says it's not the time to assign responsibility.
"There is a public trial going on without evidence, that the media is doing against the client, and I just want everybody to be careful, to be relaxed and to wait until the authorities determine what happened there," Bergevin said.
Both Montreal police and the coroner are looking into the cause and circumstances surrounding this deadly fire that has so far left four people dead and at least three missing.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston is being questioned by MPs at committee about his role, his report into election meddling, his decision against a public inquiry, and allegations of a conflict of interest.
The number of interactions between killer whales and humans has increased alarmingly in recent years. CTVNews.ca asked an expert to explain the reasons behind the increase in interactions, explore the types of encounters, and examine the implications for both humans and killer whales.
Prince Harry entered a courtroom witness box Tuesday, swearing to tell the truth in testimony against a tabloid publisher he accuses of phone hacking and other unlawful snooping.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Many Canadian parents are stretching themselves thin — even going as far as to postpone their retirement in some cases — in order to help pay for their children’s education, according to a new survey.
Police in Australia are investigating the suspicious death of a woman who used to live in Surrey, BC, after her body was found in her apartment on the outskirts of Sydney.
The wall of a major dam in a part of southern Ukraine that Moscow controls collapsed Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe's largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war rushed to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the emergency.
A huge Soviet-era dam on the Dnipro River that separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in southern Ukraine was breached on Tuesday, unleashing floodwaters across the war zone.
Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian singer, songwriter and entertainer whose off-hand, English-language cameo on 'The Girl from Ipanema' made her a worldwide voice of bossa nova, has died at age 83.
A grieving widow whose husband was run over and killed by a speeding OPP officer can't believe the force told her it won't hold a public hearing into the case because it decided the misconduct was 'not serious.'
Hammonds Plains Road reopened to traffic early Tuesday morning more than week after wildfires began in the Halifax area. Officials say the fires in the area are contained, though crews continue to deal with hot spots and flare ups.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Marking the two year anniversary of the alleged terror attack that took the lives of four members of the same family, the board has announced an Anti-Islamophobia Strategy.
On this day in 2021, four out of five members of a London, Ont. family were killed while they were out for a walk and struck by a vehicle, in an apparently deliberate attack.
One person has died after a motorcycle crash in Lambton County. The crash happened June 2 just before 9:30 p.m. and officers responded to a ditch on Shiloh Line in Petrolia.
While firefighters get more forest fires under control in northern Ontario, travel restrictions declared under an emergency order are being expanded in several communities.
A grieving widow whose husband was run over and killed by a speeding OPP officer can't believe the force told her it won't hold a public hearing into the case because it decided the misconduct was 'not serious.'
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Calgary-based Cenovus Energy says it has safely restarted a portion of its production that was shut down because of the threat of wildfires in northern and central Alberta.
Flames and smoke could be seen shooting out of a home on Graham Street in Waterloo shortly after midnight on Monday, creating a scene that firefighters say was intense before they arrived.
The provincial wildfire service is warning British Columbians to have a go-bag and make an evacuation plan with this year's wildfire season off to an alarming start.
Many Canadian parents are stretching themselves thin — even going as far as to postpone their retirement in some cases — in order to help pay for their children’s education, according to a new survey.
Real estate experts say B.C.’s housing market is heating back after cooling off due to rising interest rates but the future is uncertain as several economists expect the Bank of Canada to hike rates again.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Edmonton police launched a new tool Monday to encourage reports of "hate incidents," something officers believe will help them track people who may escalate to "hate crimes."
Many Canadian parents are stretching themselves thin — even going as far as to postpone their retirement in some cases — in order to help pay for their children’s education, according to a new survey.
It’s been 79 years since the war effort known as ‘D-Day,’ which eventually led to the liberation of western Europe during World War II. The day was marked with a service in Normandy with the Royal Regina Rifles on hand.
Officials are asking people living around Centennial Lake to evacuate their homes as a forest fire burns in the area west of Calabogie, Ont. An evacuation order has been extended to Wednesday afternoon.
Capital Pride will be receiving money from the federal government to cover costs of added security measures at this year's Pride parade and other events.
While Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) publicly mulled moving its downtown emergency shelter to a location on 20th Street near the city's core, city documents reveal the wellness centre's present Fairhaven area location was heavily favoured early in the process.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
A police officer hugs a woman near the site of a building that was gutted by a fire in Montreal, Thursday, March 23, 2023. The heritage building went up in flames last week. Four bodies have been recovered and three people remain missing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A worker is shown next to a building that was gutted by a fire in Montreal, Thursday, March 23, 2023. The heritage building went up in flames last week. Four bodies have been recovered and three people remain missing. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
