A fire in a 52-unit building makes a serious injury

SEPT-ÎLES | A 52-unit building fell prey to fire early Saturday morning in Sept-Îles, on the North Shore, making a serious injury, the tenant of a second-floor apartment who jumped to escape the flames.

Firefighters were first called Friday night at 9:30 pm to intervene to extinguish a fire in an apartment in the building located at 60, rue Père-Divet.

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"We went there, did the procedures and all the checks. The fire was really circumscribed, "said Patrick Gwilliam, General Manager of the City of Sept-Îles.

Then, around 4 am, on the night of Friday to Saturday, the sappers received another call still coming from the same building, a 1960s building with 52 units, 40 of which were occupied.

"We saw a conflagration that was spreading very quickly. The firefighters evacuated the residents and then went into defensive mode from the outside because it was impossible to intervene from the inside, "said the city's CEO.

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The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the Canadian Red Cross are counting the tenants of the building because tenants were still missing in the early afternoon.

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"There are three missing people on the call, two of whom would have information that indicates they are outside where there is no cellular network and another person who is missing that investigators from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) are trying to locate, "Gwilliam said.

The latter invited people to appear on the City's Facebook page or to join the SQ at 418-310-4141.

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The tenant who was seriously injured Saturday morning tried to escape the flames by jumping from the second floor. Mr. Gwilliam did not, however, have specific details about his state of health.

The Red Cross took the victims under its responsibility. Those who require it will be accommodated at the hotel. A donation center was also opened to help people who lost everything.