A residence on the Chemin Bord de l’Eau in Sainte-Barbe was badly damaged by a fire that started in the late afternoon on February 17.
According to an article published by the Journal Saint-François, the home was known several decades ago as the Hôtel Bélair before it was converted to a residence. Numerous renovations meant the building had several junctions, which complicated the work by firefighters to control the blaze, said Joël Trudeau, the director of the Service de Securité Incendie et Civile de Sainte-Barbe.
The building was empty when firefighters arrived shortly after 4:50 p.m. The fire spread quickly and was especially intense at the back of the house. Firefighters took more than five hours to control the blaze, managing to save the annexes and garage.
The Sainte-Barbe fire department was joined by firefighters from Saint-Anicet, Hinchinbrooke, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Saint-Étienne-de-Beauharnois, Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka, and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. The Unité Communautaire des Mesures d’Urgence took part in the operation as well, alongside around 60 firefighters.
Firefighters from the Saint-Anicet fire department, as well as Sainte-Barbe, Huntingdon, and Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka were called earlier in the day to a house fire on Chemin Saint-Charles in Saint-Anicet.
According to the Journal Saint-François, the blaze originated on the second floor, which was most impacted by the fire, while the ground floor sustained water damage. A resident in her seventies managed to escape unharmed. (SR)