Two Montreal police suffered smoke inhalation on Friday as they assisted city firefighters evacuate an east-end building that was the site of a five-alarm fire.
Montreal police said the two officers are expected to recover. There were no other injuries reported in the fire, which was reported to the 911 emergency centre at 7:45 a.m.
Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
Thanks for signing up!
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Montreal Gazette Headline News will soon be in your inbox.
Firefighters arriving at the scene on Sherbrooke St. E. near Carignan Ave. were confronted by intense smoke from a blaze in a building containing stores on the main floor and residences on the upper storeys.
Police said that despite Friday’s intense cold with wind chills dropping to below minus-40 Celsius, the evacuation was carried out efficiently.
However, those living in the neighbourhood around the fire found themselves without light and, in some cases, heat, when the local power grid was cut as a safety precaution and as part of the efforts to extinguish the blaze, which was still being fought at noon.
