Thirty-two presumed dead in Quebec seniors' home fire
Reuters - 59 mins ago
By Matthieu Belanger
L'ISLE-VERTE, Quebec (Reuters) - Thirty-two people were presumed to
have died in the fire that swept through a wooden retirement residence
in the eastern Canadian province of Quebec on Thursday, police said on
Saturday. Eight bodies have been recovered.
The grim reality set in after careful investigation of who was missing
and who may have been out of town, and as security officials worked to
melt layers of ice up to two feet thick that encased many of the
bodies.
"I think we can all agree here today, that the 24 people that are
still missing - I think we can assume the worst, but you have to
understand that we're not going to confirm any deaths until we've
actually recovered the remains," police spokesman Guy Lapointe told a
news conference.
The fire erupted in the early hours of Thursday and ripped through the
Residence Du Havre in L'Isle-Verte, the tiny town northeast of Quebec
City that has been devastated by the tragedy.
Teams of firefighters, police and coroner's officials had to use steam
machines to melt the ice, caused by the vast amounts of water that was
used to put out the flames.
The temperature, which had hovered around minus 22 Celsius (minus 8
Fahrenheit) on Thursday, rose to minus 7 C on Saturday. It was due to
drop to minus 17 C on Sunday, according to the federal environment
ministry's website.
"You can imagine how difficult it is to go through the ice, melt it,
and again, do it in a way that preserves the integrity of potential
victims," Lapointe said.
"So it's very difficult work again today. It's very cold. So we're
doing our best really to go as fast as possible. Every effort is being
deployed. It's just very difficult," he said.
A memorial service will be held in the town on Sunday at 2 pm (1900
GMT). Quebec Premier Pauline Marois has cut short a visit to Europe
and plans to be present, officials said.
In the aftermath of the disaster, attention has focused on the fact
that only part of the residence was equipped with sprinklers, and that
provincial law did not require a sprinkler system there.
Lapointe declined to comment on media reports that the fire may have
been caused by a cigarette in a resident's room.
The police are looking into a report that a night guard at the home
saw thick smoke coming from a second-floor room.
"Our position right now is that's one hypothesis. There are many that
are still on the table. This one is not being privileged at this time,
in the sense that it's the same level as the other ones," Lapointe
said.
"We're still interviewing people, and we can't just go on one or two
facts to state the cause of something of this magnitude."
He also urged residents not to talk to the media, in order to help
maintain the integrity of the police investigation.
"Sadly, when people go forward and talk to the media - and I'm not
saying it's your fault, not at all - but obviously rumors will start
and people come to conclusions, and for us it's very important that we
do the job thoroughly and come to the right conclusion at the end," he
told reporters.
The Quebec branch of the Red Cross, which on Friday appealed for
C$200,000 ($180,200) to help those affected by the disaster, said it
had already raised the entire sum.
Much of the money will be spent on items such as wheelchairs,
clothing, small items of furniture, dentures, hearing aids and eye
glasses, Red Cross spokesman Pascal Mathieu told a news conference on
Saturday.
Some of the specialized hearing aids which are needed can cost up to
C$5,000 per person, he said.
($1=$1.11 Canadian)
(Writing by Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren; Editing by Jeffrey
Hodgson, Gunna Dickson and David Gregorio)
23 comments

Seniors homes should be a priority for fire prevention measures and
precautions, the residents are often slow, disabled, and mentally
impaired. Not a pleasant way to perish.
BaudMon, 19 hrs ago

From now on, houses, apartments (even if is 3-6 floors) should be
built with cement, concrete! And must have sprinklers on every floors
and in every rooms! (Mandatory) Especially in seniors' home and
apartment buildings! Where there might be some people who forget to
turn off stoves, smoking on the bed/sofa and fell asleep...etc.
(Because there are lots of people living in a building and there might
be some are not careful people). Because if fire occurs at night while
people are sleeping, that's when is deadly and deaths too!
MM, 6 mins ago

In reply to Andrew re the US vs Canadian firefighters.. Correction
here!!! I have a friend who is a firefighter (Canadian) who has risked
his life many times to save people. When people are running out, he is
running in. SO get your facts straight before you make a comment like
that. My sincere sympathy to all family and friends who have lost
loved ones in this terrible tragedy. It is about time that the Govt
made mandatory the installation of sprinklers in seniors buildings.
Shame on them!
Miss, 2 hrs ago

We shouldn't have to blame the government, etc.........it should be an
automatic part of building and keeping up with modern safety devices.
In other words, we, as individuals, should not have to be ordered by
law to do what is right in the first place. If a building is new, it
should automatically come with all the safety devices. If the building
is old, common sense says to have these devices installed. I hope I
never need to move into a senior facility...or even an apartment
building. This fire should never have happened. I am outraged !
Billie, 3 hrs ago

Our seniors are being forced outside in minus degrees or celcius to
smoke. Why can't they have a smoking room to add comfort in their
later years. It is possible the fire was started by a cigarette... yet
to be determined. If so, would that have be avoided if the person
could go to a safe room with a simple coffee machine and plastic
chairs and have her/his cigarette in peace? We have taken the NO
SMOKING rules too far and now we hide under our sheets to smoke so
that we do not freeze in the winter months.
Daniel, 55 mins ago
http://ca.m.yahoo.com/w/legobpengine/news/tired-rescue-workers-pause-search-bodies-quebec-blaze-003652335--finance.html?.b=index&.cf3=Politics&.cf4=1&.cf5=Reuters&.cf6=%2F&.ts=1390683807&.intl=ca&.lang=en-ca
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