(Montreal) The Christmas masses in the Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal can take place as planned on Sunday.
Updated December 24th
A fire broke out in a construction site overnight, causing more fear than damage.
The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) is no longer calling it an “arson,” but rather an electrical fire that caused no damage to the building.
The emergency services were alerted by an emergency call about a fire alarm at around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Firefighters were already on site, at the intersection of Notre-Dame and Saint-Sulpice streets, when police arrived.
The flames came from scaffolding at a construction site on the building.
“The firefighters found traces of accelerant,” the SPVM said at the start of the operation, making it clear that there was “no damage to the building.”
The place is very popular and popular with tourists, but also with homeless people, who are in large numbers in the area.
“SPVM arson module investigators were on scene early this morning. They conducted an investigation of the scene and concluded that it was not a criminal fire, but an electrical fire,” said agent Véronique Dubuc, spokesperson for the SPVM, in an update on the incident.
No impact on Christmas celebrations
In a press release emailed to The Canadian Press, Notre-Dame Basilica officials assure that this “small fire” will have no impact on the church's activities during this period of Christmas celebrations.
“This Sunday, December 24th, services will be held at 11 a.m., 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and midnight. “Acclaimed soprano Caroline Bleau will perform Christmas carols during masses on December 24 twenty minutes before the start of the festivities,” the press release said.
“It will also be possible to visit the basilica until 4 p.m.,” it says.
The Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal is considered a National Historic Site of Canada. The construction dates back to the 1820s.
It has been the subject of restoration work since 2020.
The church was elevated to the rank of minor basilica in 1982 by Pope John Paul II, who visited in September 1984.
“On many occasions thousands of people gathered in or on the square to pay their last respects to important people; “Let us think of Maurice Richard or Pierre Trudeau in 2000. They also experienced more joyful and splendid times with the wedding of Céline Dion and René Angélil or that, more discreetly, of the hockey player Mario Lemieux,” says in particular in her file the directory of the cultural heritage of Quebec.