Major fire in downtown Montreal lays waste to vacant building
A three-storey building at the corner of De La Montagne St. and St. Antoine St. went up in flames Tuesday, drawing 90 firefighters in a major response.
The building had been vacant for years, said Matthew Griffith of the Montreal fire department.
Smaller neighbouring buildings were also vacant and "abandoned," he said, boarded up, so there was no need to evacuated anyone during the three-alarm response. The other buildings weren't damaged in the end.
The corner is, however, in a relatively busy part of town, close to the Bell Centre and the Lucien-L'Allier metro stop.
The building that caught fire is at 1300 St. Antoine, and it used to be mixed commercial-residential, Griffith said.
The fire started on the third floor and the cause is still unknown.
Firefighters were just wrapping up their first job, containing the blaze, as of about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and investigators were slated to go in as soon as it was safe to begin to look at the cause, Griffith said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Military under fire as thousands of troops face lost cost-of-living allowance
The Canadian Armed Forces is under fire for its plan to cut thousands of troops off a cost-of-living allowance without much notice.

Twitter: Parts of source code leaked online
Some parts of Twitter's source code -- the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs -- were leaked online, the social media company said in a legal filing on Sunday.
U.K. report: Black kids 6 times likelier to be strip-searched by police
Black children in England and Wales were six times more likely to be strip-searched by police, according to a report being released Monday that found children were failed by those sworn to protect them.
Burial plots in Metro Vancouver are now so expensive, they’re being compared to real estate
Burial plots have become such a hot commodity in Metro Vancouver, one spot in a Burnaby cemetery is being sold privately online for $54,000.
Court hearing for Prince Harry and Elton John's privacy case against U.K. publisher
The first hearing in a lawsuit brought by Prince Harry, singer Elton John and other high profile figures against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper over alleged phone-tapping and other breaches of privacy, is due to begin on Monday.
All 7 Pennsylvania chocolate factory explosion victims found
All seven bodies have been recovered from the site of a powerful explosion at a chocolate factory in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania, officials said.
Singh 'not satisfied' with confidence-and-supply agreement
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he's 'not satisfied' with his party's confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals — signed a year ago this week — because it's shown him he could do a better job running the country than the current government.
North Korea test-fires 2 more missiles as tensions rise
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters Monday, continuing its weapons displays as the United States moved an aircraft carrier strike group to neighbouring waters for military exercises with the South.
Is the David porn? Come see, Italians tell Florida parents
The Florence museum housing Michelangelo's Renaissance masterpiece the 'David' invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign.