A five-alarm fire tore through an abandoned building in downtown Montreal on Wednesday, causing no injuries but requiring more than 100 firefighters to stop it from spreading to neighbouring buildings.
The building, near Parc Ave. and Milton St., had been abandoned for years, firefighters and local residents said.
The fire department received a call about the three-storey building going up in smoke around 9:20 a.m. The brick facade collapsed about an hour afterward. A cause hadn’t been established by Wednesday afternoon.
The department knew the old art-deco-style building was considered dangerous, meaning it was either an abandoned building at risk of collapsing or one undergoing renovations, said Martin Farmer, chief of operations with the Montreal fire department.
Nearby buildings were evacuated and three families are being taken care of by the Canadian Red Cross after having their homes damaged. The thick smoke coming from the blaze quickly spread across the area.
David Swift, who has lived in the area for the last 25 years, said the building has been abandoned or semi-abandoned for as long as he can remember. Known as the R.S. Muir & Co. building, it was built in 1875.
The ground floor housed an arcade a few years ago, Swift said, but not for long.
Both the fire department and residents who had gathered around the scene on Wednesday said squatters often occupied the building.
The fire caused traffic around downtown as police closed sections of Sherbrooke St. and Parc Ave.
A fire was burning in a four-storey building on Park Ave. near Milton St. in Montreal Nov. 23, 2016.
The building located at 3462 Ave. du Parc in Montreal.
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