The city of Montreal is worried about vacant buildings and how best to protect them.

This week the R.S. Muir & Co. building was demolished after it was heavily damaged by fire, and last week the Robillard building, constructed in the 1890s, burned to the ground.

Those are just the latest in an oft-repeated story of buildings being vulnerable to fire -- or simple neglect.

Earlier this year three teenagers were charged with starting a fire at the Snowdon Theatre, and two years ago the Negro Community Centre in Little Burgundy was demolished after a wall caved in.

These repeated disasters have convinced city officials to inventory every building that is considered to be of historic importance.

So far they have almost 3,000 buildings on their list, with three percent of them being vacant, and another two percent being both empty and "vulnerable."

Manon Gauthier, the Executive Committee member overseeing the project, said the buildings are not necessarily being abandoned by bad landlords.

"But in many cases it is about negligence," said Gauthier.

She said the city is coming up with ways to force landlords to take care of their buildings and not let them fall into ruin.

"Fines are one mechanism but they are not the answer. It's all about prevention, so the whole aspect of vacancies is going to be looked at," said Gauthier.

The city of Montreal has been issuing fines against negligent landlords for decades, but it's had little effect.

In February the Plateau-Mont Royal borough created a list of vacant and abandoned buildings in its borough in a bid to find owners willing to repair, but there's no sign it's having any significant effect.

Montreal has even considered expropriating buildings to save heritage structures, but lawyers have said it would be difficult to justify that in court.

Still, Gauthier said other avenues are being pursued.

"How do we address as a city better mechanisms to make sure that there we have transitional uses and that there are incentives to ensure that the vacancies don't last?" said Gauthier.

Montreal is now considering offering financial incentives to maintain and renovate heritage structures, along with stiffer fines.

Before any new plan comes into effect, the city will hold public consultations to see what citizens think will work best.