A smokey fire sparked the evacuation of Place Ville Marie on Monday.

A fire chief said that a fire started on a loading dock, and that smoke spread up the stairways to at least the 32nd floor at 1 Place Ville Marie.

The tower in downtown Montreal is 47 storeys high. Some 7,000 people were in the building at the time of the evacuation. Some people had difficulty evacuating the building are were assisted by firefighters.

The fire was under control within a few minutes, shortly before noon, and did not affect any of the other towers in the complex.

The paramedics examined three people for smoke inhalantion. One person was taken to the hospital because of a minor knee injury that occurred during the evacuation, said François Labelle, head of emergency operations.