A fire caused significant damage to a residential and commercial building in Saint-Roch, forcing the evacuation of around twenty people early Tuesday in Quebec City.
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Several calls were made to the emergency services at 4:02 a.m. to report the presence of smoke and a burning smell inside the building located at 330 Saint-Roch Street.
The fire started on the third and last floor and then spread to the roof, affecting a large area of the latter.
Photo Agence QMI, Guy Martel
One of the first actions of the firefighters on their arrival was to evacuate the residents – around twenty in total – several of whom were taken care of by the Red Cross.
According to Alexandre Lajoie, spokesperson for the Quebec Fire Protection Service (SPCIQ), the building was not equipped with a central alarm system.
Some units had smoke detectors and some did not. Thus, the firefighters woke up several tenants who were not informed of the disaster in progress.
A person was inconvenienced by the smoke and went on his own to a hospital. Another person was evacuated from the roof of an adjacent building where she had taken refuge.
No injuries are reported.
Photo Agence QMI, Guy Martel
A fourth alarm was triggered, for a total of 65 firefighters participating in the intervention.
Fire and water damage is significant on the upper floors.
The La Barberie microbrewery is located in a building attached to the main building. The bar was not affected by the fire, but the SPCIQ spokesperson might not specify whether the production sector would have been impacted by the event.
Facebook screenshot
Photo Agence QMI, Guy Martel
Photo Agence QMI, Guy Martel
Around 8 a.m., the fire was brought under control and firefighters were checking the spread.
The cause of the blaze is being investigated by the fire department.
