The Sayabec community center in Bas-Saint-Laurent burst into flames on the night of Friday to Saturday.
The citizens of the small community have to say goodbye to the activities organized in the community center as the building was completely destroyed by this fire.
According to the Sûreté du Québec, the fire broke out around 11:30 p.m. and was possibly criminal. An investigation was therefore launched to find out the origin of the flames.
“Dear citizens, this morning you recognized a tremendous loss to our community and we will do everything in our power to inform you of the follow-up. “We would like to thank all fire departments present on site as well as the Sûreté du Québec,” the city of Sayabec said on its Facebook page Saturday morning.
An audience watches the work of the firefighters
Since Sayabec is a small community, several people came to see what was going on when they heard the sirens and saw the flames. This is particularly true for Angie Lauzière, who was visiting her father-in-law.
“At first we thought it was under control because the fire just seemed to be trapped next to the stairs […] There were no more flames, just a lot of smoke […] About twenty minutes later the fire was really set, it was out of control, it was everywhere, it was hell,” she said in an interview with QMI Agency.
He witnessed the event until around 3:00 a.m. However, when she returned home, the firefighters were still on duty.
She pointed out that there are a large number of firefighters. “It was nice to watch them at work. They did everything they could even though the fire was really out of control. It was impressive to watch them at work,” she said, adding that several citizens came to see the sad spectacle, even though it was the middle of the night.
“Even though it was the middle of the night, many people woke up and came to check. There are many people in this room who have memories. It is still the meeting place for many families,” said Ms. Lauzière, adding that her partner has more memories of the place than she does, having grown up in Sayabec.