Major fire at Montreal women's shelter forces 37 to evacuate
More than 150 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the flames at a women's shelter in Montreal's Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie borough Monday morning.
The five-alarm fire broke out around 8:30 a.m., said Matthew Griffith, the fire department's section chief. He said it started on the first floor before spreading to the shelter's second storey. It was extinguished just before 3 p.m.
Griffith said one firefighter is being treated for a minor arm injury.
Mireille, the shelter's executive director whose last name is being withheld for the safety of the women staying there, said the women heard a loud noise during breakfast but didn't know what caused it. That's when the person in charge of maintenance saw smoke and grabbed the fire extinguisher, "but it didn't work," she said.
"We really rushed to get everyone outside. All our women are safe, no one was injured," said Mireille.
The shelter offers both short-term and long-term housing to women who are victims of violence. Mireille says the women don't have anywhere else to go.
"They're in shock for now. They're happy they're out.… They don't have a lot, so to know that all their belongings, they lost it, it's difficult for them," she said.
The Red Cross cared for the 37 people who were evacuated from the building. The shelter is in touch with other organizations to house the women, said Mireille.
Griffith said the fire was difficult to get under control. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
