A blazing weekend on Laval island

The Montreal firefighters were called into action to assist their Laval counterparts who were overtaxed in trying to deal with simultaneous breakouts, a situation which although rare might, nonetheless, happen a couple times a year.

Laval Fire Chief Alain Gauthier said that the several simultaneous blazes that occurred last weekend were the most numerous eruptions of this type he'd seen in a long time.

The wave of major outbreaks started tragically on Friday morning in a suspicious fire in a single family dwelling on Palerne Street in Vimont. An unidentified man in his fifties lost his life in the incident.

Saturday, a fire that broke out in a backyard balcony at 2246 Oslo forced a young girl out of the house, her safety assured after she was alerted by neighbours who had seen the flames.

At 1:38 am, a fire at 2191 de Gironde, in Vimont, completely destroyed a shed before firefighters could get to it.

At 12:55 pm, twelve families found themselves on the street, having to evacuate their apartments at 3550 and 3554 Rivard Street in Duvernay when flames engulfed the buildings, causing near-total destruction. In all, 40 people were displaced, with damage estimated at $300,000. The cause of the fire is still unknown but an inquiry has been launched. The displaced residents were cared for by the 'Division urgence sociale' organization.

Just a few hours later, two other fires broke out at virtually the same time. The first of these, at 276 Laurier Street, was the result of a pot of oil catching fire in the kitchen of the single family dwelling. Minutes later, an electrical fire that started in a shed spread to a house on Carignan Street, also in Vimont. Damage was also suffered by several other houses nearby.

Photo: Carignan

(Photo: Martin Alarie)

Photo:Ravages4

(Photo: Martin Alarie)

Photo:Rivard

(Photo: Martin Alarie)