'My whole life is in there': Montrealers devastated after heritage building fire
The major fire that broke out in a heritage building in downtown Montreal Thursday afternoon was almost brought under control, fire officials said late Friday night.
Sylvain Jalbert, the section chief of Montreal's fire department, told The Canadian Press that there were no flames or smoke visible since approximately 7 p.m. at the Monastère du Bon-Pasteur building.
Around 30 remaining firefighters were put on "debris watch" to make sure the fire doesn't reignite.
At the height of the fire, there were about 150 firefighters tackling the five-alarm blaze at the building, which was built in 1846 at the corner of Sherbrooke and de Bullion Streets. The flames started around 4:40 p.m. Thursday.
The fire at the building, which housed residential units, a daycare, community organizations, and a concert hall, has devastated the community.
"My whole life is in there. I have pictures of my parents from the 1920s and 30s and family pictures from the last 50 years," said Diane Berube through tears.
The site also serves as an office for Heritage Montreal, located directly underneath the concert hall, where the damage is believed to be severe.
Precious historical and cultural items are feared lost, including a 350-year-old harpsichord and $300,000 piano inside the chapel concert hall. Flames destroyed the bell tower directly above.
"We are devastated really," said Anthony Paya of Heritage Montreal, an organization that had offices and archives inside the building.
Research and records about historic sites all over the city have likely been destroyed.
"It's a great loss in the history of Montreal because it was in the core of women communities back then and in the social history of Montreal. It was a monastery and it was also … made of grey stones of Montreal," Paya said.
In all, 39 people were forced to leave, 27 of whom are now in the care of the Red Cross.
SENIOR OVERLOOKED IN EVACUATION
Montreal's fire chief says it's unclear why a man in his 80s was overlooked during the evacuation of the burning Thursday night.
While officials initially reported that all occupants had been removed, the man was discovered in an apartment hours later and transported to hospital to be treated for hypothermia.
Speaking near the site of the blaze Friday afternoon, Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM) chief Richard Liebmann said there will be an investigation into the matter.
"We're still trying to determine how that person got there," he told reporters.
"There's a lot of contradictory information. What I can tell you for sure is that primary and secondary searches were done in the entire building. The person responsible for the part of the building where the senior [was] located confirmed to us that nobody was missing."
The man's injuries are not serious, he said.
Liebmann said he's "extremely confident" no one else is in the building, noting that no one has been reported missing.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante was also on site Friday to address the public, warning residents to be mindful of the poor air quality in the city due to the fire.
With files from CTV News Montreal's Matt Gilmour and Luca Caruso-Moro.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.