On Saturday at around 11:30 a.m., a major fire broke out in a 12-unit apartment building on Saint-Jacques-West street in Sainte-Thérèse.
Thierry Laforce / QMI Agency
After receiving numerous calls from concerned citizens, the Sainte-Thérèse fire brigade quickly raised a general alarm that mobilized about sixty firefighters.
There is a fire in Sainte-Thérèse. The fire protection service triggered the 5th alarm and called for reinforcements from the surrounding towns. Many firefighters on site at Rue Saint-Jacques Ouest. @tvanews pic.twitter.com/HBM9CVStFb
— Kevin Crane-Desmarais (@KCrane23) May 20, 2023
Engineers from the Boisbriand, Blainville, Mirabel, Saint-Eustache, Terrebonne and Deux-Montagnes fire stations were also brought in to reinforce the staff of the Sainte-Thérèse fire service.
“At the moment we do not know the cause of the fire,” said the chief of operations of the Sainte-Thérèse fire protection service, Mathieu Lacombe. Our investigators are on their way.”
However, Mathieu Lacombe stated that the fire would have started on the third floor before it spread rapidly. A video was posted on the Caserne Sainte-Thérèse Facebook page showing flames erupting from a third-floor balcony of the apartment building.
Thierry Laforce / QMI Agency
Flames and smoke were visible to motorists traveling on Highway 640.
“It is a building that, due to its configuration, is difficult to access and makes the work of firefighters difficult,” said Mathieu Lacombe. […] There was an evacuation. We have not received any reports of injured or missing persons, nor have we had any confirmation to the contrary.
Almost an hour after the start of the operation, firefighters still had not brought the fire under control.
Thierry Laforce / QMI Agency