Two fires at downtown buildings, three hurt
Three people were taken to a hospital after a five-alarm fire on the roof of the Bell Media tower at 1800 McGill College Ave. on Friday.
Authorities do not fear for their lives. Two people had been working on the roof, and one person had been working in an office nearby, according to Urgences-santé.
Black smoke and flames could be seen surging from the top of the building around 5:30 p.m. As they closed off McGill College Ave., police pushed back a crowd of onlookers who were gathered for the Ste-Catherine St. sidewalk sale.
The fire was brought under control in about an hour.
While still uncertain of the cause of the fire, the Montreal fire department believes it was started because of work being done on the roof. Six people were working on the roof when the fire broke out.
Firefighters received the call at 4:40 p.m. Friday. About 225 firefighters and 50 fire trucks were sent to the scene.
The firefighting operation was complicated by the fact that all the ventilation systems on the roof of the 30-storey building sucked smoke inside, according to Ian Ritchie, the fire department’s operations chief.
The building was completely evacuated and no one inside was hurt. Firefighters had to walk up 30 flights of stairs, as the building ’s elevators stopped working due to the ventilation problem.
The adjacent shopping centre, Place Montréal Trust, at the corner of Ste-Catherine St., was also evacuated.
Métro service on the green line was not disrupted by the fire, the STM said, but two of the exits of the McGill station were closed.
Second fire blocks away: Montreal’s fire department responded to another fire hours later, a three-alarm fire at the McGill University ’s McIntyre Medical Building on Promenade Sir William Osler. The fire was quickly brought under control, though it sent smoke through the area. McGill said there were no reported injuries. It appears this fire as well may have started on the roof.