Montreal·Updated
The fire continued to smoulder into the afternoon, completely destroying the three-storey, 100-year-old building which housed a restaurant on the main floor and a hostel above. At least two people are dead, according to Radio-Canada.
Tourist staying in ‘shoebox’ room says he feels lucky to have gotten out
Security footage shows masked person breaking into Old Montreal buildingSecurity footage obtained by Radio-Canada shows a hooded person wearing all-black clothing and a mask kicking in the restaurant’s side door minutes before the fire broke out.
A major fire that broke out in a building in Old Montreal early Friday morning is being investigated by the Montreal police major crimes unit.
At least two people were killed in the fire, according to Radio-Canada.
Police say the fire, which started around 2 a.m. in a building at the corner of Notre-Dame and Bonsecours streets, is suspicious in nature. Security footage obtained by Radio-Canada shows a person breaking into the building minutes before the fire broke out.
The fire continued to smoulder into the afternoon, completely destroying the three-storey, 100-year-old building which housed a restaurant on the main floor and a hostel above.
At a news conference Friday afternoon, police said they could not confirm the number of deaths as investigators don’t yet have access to the scene. Police said earlier that one person was in critical condition.
“Some fatalities are unfortunately expected,” said Montreal police Insp. David Shane, adding police could also not yet confirm the number of people inside the building at the time of the fire.
WATCH | Witnesses describe seeing huge flames:
Witnesses describe overwhelming flames at the scene of deadly Old Montreal fireThe fire broke out on the main floor of the building on Notre-Dame Street. Flames quickly spread, triggering a five-alarm fire. At least two people are dead and one is in critical condition.
The fire broke out on the main floor of the building and the flames quickly spread, triggering a five-alarm fire. About 125 firefighters and 50 trucks worked to extinguish the flames.
Police did not confirm its cause but said the force’s major crimes unit is working closely with the arson squad on the case.
Security footage obtained by Radio-Canada shows a hooded person wearing all-black clothing and a mask approaching the building minutes before the fire broke out.
The person can be seen kicking in the restaurant’s side door and entering the building.
Montreal police said they would not comment on the footage. They said the investigation was ongoing and encouraged people not to spread information that could interfere.
Anyone with information about the fire should get in touch with police, Shane said.
Firefighters were working to put out the large fire that destroyed the building on Notre-Dame Street Friday morning. (Submitted by the Association des Pompiers de Montréal)He said firefighters are working to secure the building so that searches can be conducted through the rubble “in order to find any potential victims and evidence.”
Police have set up a victim support centre and are urging anyone who believes their loved one may have been in the building at the time of the fire to call 514-280-1294.
Thomas Sawer, a tourist from Germany, was staying in the hostel for just one night when he was jolted awake by the sounds of the building’s fire alarms.
He said smoke was already circulating in the building as he made his way out.
“I thought, ‘This can’t be a drill, this has to be real so I went down, but I don’t know if I felt safe, honestly,” he told CBC News in an interview.
The fire department has sent about 125 firefighters and 50 trucks to the scene. (Charles Contant/CBC)Sawer said his room was small, had no windows and barely any furniture. “I felt like I’m in a shoebox, honestly.”
He said he feels lucky he made it out when he did, because once on the street, he describes seeing “an explosion” in the building, which is when the flames erupted.
Crammed, no windows, say hostel reviewersMunicipal tax records show the owner of the building is Émile-Haim Benamor, who also owned the building on Place D’Youville in Old Montreal where seven people died in a fire in March 2023. The restaurant located on the main floor is owned by another person.
Property records show that the building was constructed in 1923. Those records also show that in 2021, Benamor requested a $10,000 permit to build a “20-room hotel” there.
A hostel called Le 402 is located on the second and third floors of the building. Photos of the hostel on booking websites show exposed brick walls, a shared lounge and rooms with a city view.
Smoke blanketed much of downtown Montreal as a result of the fire. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)Some comments, however, describe the accommodations as crammed and rundown. Multiple reviewers also report bedrooms without windows or windows that wouldn’t open.
Martin Guilbault, a division chief with the Montreal fire department, told reporters that fire inspectors had visited the building in the spring of 2023 and had found an absence of fire alarms and smoke detectors, but on a new visit in the spring of 2024, those issues had been fixed.
“The building was compliant, according to our information,” he said. However, he specified that inspectors had visited the address of the restaurant inside the building, but did not say if the inspection also included the hostel upstairs.
WATCH | A morning update from the scene of the fire:
Two people killed in major fire in Old Montreal hostelMontreal police have opened an investigation into the fire, which started around 2 a.m. in a three-storey building at the corner of Notre-Dame and Bonsecours streets. About 40 people who live in the building next door were forced out of their homes.
Guilbault said the fire department had no information to suggest there were bedrooms without windows inside the building.
CBC News reached out to Benamor’s lawyer on Friday morning. He declined to comment.
Approximately 40 people from an adjacent building were forced out and are being supported by the Red Cross.
Montreal police said last year that the March 2023 fire at the building on Place D’Youville was intentionally set. Inspectors had flagged a number of fire safety violations at that building, including a lack of smoke detectors and problems with its fire escape. The building hosted Airbnbs, which were illegal in the area.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew Lapierre is a digital journalist at CBC Montreal. He previously worked for the Montreal Gazette and the Globe and Mail. You can reach him at matthew.lapierre@cbc.ca.
With files from Kim McNairn, Lauren McCallum and Radio-Canada
