MONTREAL -- A fire of suspicious origin caused the evacuation of two multi-apartment buildings in eastern Montreal in the middle of the night on Friday.

Montreal police (SPVM) reported that the incident left three people injured, including one who had to be taken to a hospital. The other two were treated at the scene.

At around 3:15 a.m., the first alarm was sounded to report that the fire had broken out in one of the two buildings located at the intersection of Notre-Dame St. East and Lebrun Ave., in the Mercier district.

While extinguishing the flames, firefighters from the Montreal Fire Department (SSIM) found traces of substances that had possibly been used to trigger the blaze. The investigation was therefore handed over to the SPVM arson squad.

Montreal firefighters put out blaze

The occupants of several dozen apartments in the two five-storey buildings were evacuated. The occupants temporarily sat and waited in a fired department bus as well as an STM public transit bus.

By the end of the night, the fire was under control, but Notre-Dame St. East remained closed to traffic between Baldwin Ave. and Mercier St.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2020.