QUEBEC VILLAGE FORGIVES
HOME’S OWNER NOT THE VILLAIN
L’ISLE VERTE, QUE. — The 800 people who weathered howling winds and biting cold Sunday to honour this village’s dead let out a communal gasp at a special memorial service as parish priest Gilles Frigon said the name of the last person who would offer a testimonial.
Then, almost as one, they rose and applauded as Roch Bernier, coowner of the Residence du Havre, walked to the altar of Eglise SaintJean-Baptiste-de-L’Isle-Verte to offer an emotional tribute to the “members of our family” who perished when fire levelled the older section of the private 52-unit seniors’ home.
“Our hearts are filled with suffering and enormous pain,” said Bernier, who spoke on behalf of himself and Irene Plante, his former partner who had remained as the residence manager.
“We saw these people day and night. We loved them very much, it is very difficult for us to go through this,” he said, singling out Plante, who was at the residence during the fire and reportedly helped pull survivors away from the flames. “She had been there 15 years so everyone knew her. She’s an exceptional person,” he said, to more enthusiastic applause.
In the days since Thursday’s early morning fire claimed the lives of 32 people, many questions have been raised about what caused the fire and why it spread with such ferocity.
Rumours swirl of possible causes: a 96-year-old man who may have broken the rules by smoking in his room, someone who may have used a space heater to ward off the chill on a night when the wind off the St. Lawrence River made it feel like -35 C, a possible electrical short.
Broader debate is focused on whether stricter norms for sprinklers systems, firewalls and overnight staff could have prevented the fire from galloping out of control and saved lives.
But anyone who expected residents of this farming community of 1,500 people to turn on Bernier and Plante, channelling sorrow at the loss of parents and grandparents into anger and retribution, got it wrong.
“This is a major tragedy. It will become part of Quebec’s history that won’t be forgotten,” said Pierre-Andre Fournier, the archbishop of Rimouski who snuck into the service late because the highway east of L’Isle Verte was closed for several hours due to snow squalls.
“One thing that really impresses me is the respectful way the community has treated the owners of the residence. That’s something I haven’t seen before.”
Unlike the Lac Megantic tragedy last July, when the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and its abrasive chairman, Ed Burkhardt became an easy target, the L’Isle Verte fire has no simple villains.
In interviews since the fire, people who visited the seniors’ residence regularly, whether to visit with friends, play bingo or visit the clinic and pharmacy, have gone out of their way to praise the owners, and particularly Plante — or “Madame Irene,” as everyone called her — for her level of care and compassion for the elderly people entrusted to her care.
“For Madame Irene, it was her family. She showed extraordinary respect when she was taking care of her patients,” said Monique Therrien, 83, a retired psychiatric nurse who lives across the street from the residence.