On November 28, at 5:06 a.m., the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM) was called to a fire in a building on Place Decelles, in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.
Alerted by the sirens of the first fire trucks to arrive on the scene, many of the building’s residents fled to their balconies. The flames in the basement were producing thick clouds of smoke that prevented them from using the emergency exits. The different crews that arrived one after another raised two aerial ladders on either side of the building and set up portable ladders to evacuate the residents. Despite the emergency, the firefighters kept everyone calm and managed to reassure the residents, so that they could get them to the ground safely.
Lieutenant David Michaud (27-4), who set up the command post, soon had the situation under control. He quickly transmitted the alarm levels and requests for reinforcements to the SIM communications centre, which dispatched the necessary resources. Three hours later, the firefighters had extinguished the fire.
All in all, close to a dozen residents were evacuated, with no injuries. It ended up being a three-alarm fire.
“When I arrived at the scene, I was proud to see that the first crews to respond had the situation completely under control. Everything had been done to safely evacuate the people trapped in the building. I even saw some firefighters from unit 274-4 comforting a mother, with a baby in her arms, and helping them down the ladder. They were very sympathetic and covered them with a blanket once they got to the ground, to show that they were there for them. It is situations like these that remind me why I chose this wonderful career,” said Operations Chief John Primiani (144-4).
Our sincere congratulations to the Group 4 firefighters who were dispatched: 102, 110, 120, 121, 125, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 144, 147, 164, 179, 203, 204 (gr. 4 and 2), 227 (gr. 4 and 2), 230, 234, 249, 274, 275, 276, 404, 425, 427, 430, 566, 627, 647, 734, 912, 935, 999, 1005, 1423, 1605, 2019.
We must not forget all the work done by the dispatch crew at the SIM communications centre, who always answers all calls so quickly. Our successful response to emergencies is just as much thanks to you.
Building residents had this to say about the firefighters:
- Resident salutes firefighters (FR) – Source : CTV
- Janitor describes fire – Source : CTV
To read more testimonies, visit the section marked Proud of our employees!