The Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM) employees responded to eight building fire calls between 10:30 p.m. on January 8 and 8 p.m. on January 9. It is quite unusual for so many fires to break out in such a short period of time. Despite the extraordinary situation, the different crews on duty responded quickly and with their usual professionalism. Hats off to all the firefighters and chiefs who battled these fires and to their colleagues at the SIM communications centre, who work with them every day to help protect Montrealers.
One investigator called to examine the causes and circumstances of five of these fires
At 6:40 a.m. on Friday, January 9, investigator Louis Saulnier was called to a building on avenue Papineau that was going up in flames. The heat was intense. Just minutes after arriving, as he was busy taking down details from the first firefighters on the scene, his telephone rang: he was needed urgently at the scene of another fire. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to examine the first scene closely for some time, he headed for the second fire, on rue Saint-Denis. Little did he suspect that he wouldn’t be able to get back until that afternoon.
It took him just an hour to conduct his investigation into the causes and circumstances of the Saint-Denis fire. As he climbed into his truck, his phone went off again. He was needed immediately at a fire on rue Sackville, in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough. He was able to quickly gather the necessary information and identify the cause of the third fire.
Investigator Saulnier hadn’t even made it back to his truck before he was called to rue de Port-Royal Ouest, also in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough. This was the first time ever that he had been called to four fires in a row. Once again, the evidence was easily accessible and he was able to identify the cause of that fire.
When his telephone rang again, he could scarcely believe his ears. This time, he was needed in the LaSalle borough, where a fire had been discovered in the walls of a building on rue John-F.-Kennedy. As he prepared to head there, he was told that the chief of operations on site would take care of identifying the cause, because he was in contact with the building’s occupants. Happy not to have to cross the island to get all the way to that fire, Saulnier headed back to the incident on avenue Papineau around 1:50 p.m.
His day wasn’t over yet, though, because after writing a number of reports, he was called to a two-alarm fire on avenue George-V in the Lachine borough that evening.
“I want to thank all my colleagues who help me with my investigations. I may not always say it, but I can assure you that I appreciate what you do,” said investigator Saulnier.
Sylvain Sévigny, captain of the section that investigates the causes and circumstances of fires, commended investigator Saulnier for his hard word, precision and expertise. “I can’t remember our section ever having such a crazy day as January 9. It’s important to salute all the work done by investigator Saulnier.”
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