Queen Elizabeth expresses sympathy for L’Isle-Verte as recovery efforts battle cold

A bitter chill washing across Eastern Canada has hampered recovery efforts in a small Quebec community devastated by fire this week after a blaze destroyed a seniors center, killing at least five people and leaving 30 more unaccounted for.

Fire crews worked through the night to ensure all fires had been doused at the site of La Résidence du Havre senior’s home in L’Isle-Verte, Quebec. A fire broke out inside the building shortly after midnight on Thursday, sending shock waves through the small Eastern Quebec community.

A search for those who remained missing resumed early Friday morning, with crews digging through the frozen rubble, fighting against both time and temperature.

Quebec police said that the bitter cold was delaying efforts and hampering the ground search. Temperatures in L’Isle-Verte, located about 240 kilometres (150 miles) northeast of Quebec City, were as low as -18 C (-1 F) Friday afternoon, with gusting winds. With the wind chill factor, the region felt more like -29 C (-20 F).

At a Friday press conference, Lt. Guy Lapointe said rescue crews had been separated into three teams made up of police, crime scene technicians, firefighters and forensic officials. The teams were working in rotation, with each taking time away from the scene to recover from the cold.

[ Related: Search for more victims in Quebec fire continues ]

"With the intense cold, we have to see to the safety of our people," Lapointe told reporters.

"All the members of the police who are deployed are working very hard. We know people are impatient, they want news. We are working very hard with our partners at this time, and ceaselessly."

As part of the recovery effort, crews are deploying devices that shoot steam into the debris in order to melt thick layers of ice and maintain the integrity of any bodies they might find in the wreckage.

The tragedy comes just six months after Lac-Megantic, another small Quebec town, was devastated by a massive train explosion, and has stirred reaction from those in Quebec and beyond.

Premier Pauline Marois is cutting short her appearance at an international economic meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to return to the province and led support. Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness also extended his “deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones in this tragic event. Seniors are siblings, spouses, parents, and grandparents, and we join with their families today in solidarity as we offer our prayers and take this tragedy to heart.”

Queen Elizabeth, meantime, released a statement expressing her own sympathy to the community.

"Prince Philip and I were saddened to learn of the serious fire at the seniors' residence in L'Isle-Verte, Quebec yesterday," the statement reads. "The Duke of Edinburgh and I send our sympathy to the families of those who have died and our thoughts and prayers to all those who have been injured in this terrible event."

Officials confirmed late Thursday that five people were killed in the fire. But an unknown number of others still remain missing an unaccounted for. The home contained 52 housing units, but police have not been able to accurately confirm whether any of those residents had been absent from the building at the time of the fire.

Lapointe said there was also a chance there were other people in the building. Police have estimated the number of missing at 30 people, but are urging anyone with photos and video of the early moments of the fire to contact investigators. Those images could perhaps identify anyone who may have escaped the building and made it to safety before it collapsed.

Fingers are already pointing as to how the blaze managed to grow so quickly. It appears an older section of the building, built in 1997, was not equipped with a sprinkler system. A newer section, where sprinklers were present, fared better in the fire and about 20 seniors living there were evacuated.

[ More Brew: Mayor Rob Ford’s crack scandal featured on Jeopardy ]

Veronique Hivon, the province's junior social services minister, told reporters that in both cases the building was up to code. She said the government would do everything possible to improve safety regulations.

As recovery efforts continue, more is coming to light about those affected by the blaze.

Jean-Eudes Fraser told La Presse that his mother, Angeline Guichard, called him in the middle of the night asking for help. He arrived at the burning home and climbed a ladder into her room, but was unable to save the 89-year-old woman.

Guichard and others will be remembered at a special mass to be held on Sunday at a small church in the community. The open service will hopefully begin the healing process for a town so recently ripped apart by tragedy.