A cigarette tossed into a flower pot caused a fire to break out in two buildings in downtown Montreal Monday afternoon, including the building housing the Le Devoir offices.

Montreal firefighters said a four-alarm fire is now under control at two buildings at the corner of Berri and Sainte-Catherine Sts. Chief of operations David Shelton said the fire started at 1265 Berri St., where the Le Devoir publishes, then spread to the neighbouring roof.

The fire caused "A significant amount of damage" to the roof of the daily newspaper’s operations, forcing the employees out of the building.

“The investigation has shown that it started in a flower pot with peat moss and a cigarette,” said Shelton, who added, "This same problem is a huge problem that costs probably millions of dollars a year in damage.”

Used to repot plants, peat moss and mulch are extremely flammable. Cigarettes extinguished in flower pots are the source of dozens of fires in Montreal every year.

"When it gets dry, when people put sort of ignition near it, it is very dangerous," said Shelton. "It's the proximity of the buidings to each other, the combustive materials that have been exposed to the heat."

The newspaper's website said the staff is safe and sound, but that it is too soon to evaluate the extent of the damage. Shelton confirmed there were no injuries.

Le Devoir employees, on the building's ninth floor, left when they began to smell smoke and before any alarms sounded.

Sprinklers did not go off on the eighth and ninth floors and Myles said it's hoped water damage is minimal.

"The first thing we asked is everybody is safe? Yes. Check. And then the people were sent away. The reporters are working right now from their homes and the copy editors are working from a crisis unit that we've set up. We plan for this sort of thing," said Brian Myles, Le Devoir's director. "We have all our staff together working on this. Everybody is healthy. This is for me the biggest thing that we can accomplish today. It's that people are safe."

About 100 firefighters worked to put out the blaze.

Despite the fire, the news agency successfully went ahead with the publication of a newspaper on Tuesday, and its digital operations continue to function.

 

- With files from The Canadian Press