Roxboro Legion trying to recover from fire before Remembrance Day

A fire broke out at the General Vanier branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in Roxboro on Tuesday morning. No one was injured and Montreal firefighters were quickly on the scene.

But with the building unusable at the moment, it’s a hard hit for the community as Remembrance Day approaches.

“For this to happen at any time is bad enough. But now, at the beginning of the poppy season, it’s devastating,” explained Martin Bruyere, immediate past president of the Legion.

Founded in 1957, the Legion has been a part of the Roxboro community for 65 years. It has served as a place for veterans and a space for community projects.

“This (pictured below), unfortunately, was damaged in the fire. It is a WWII-era Lee–Enfield rifle that was lovingly restored for us by one of our members who recently turned 98-years-old.”

WWII-era Lee–Enfield rifle. (Photo Credit: Pamela Pagano, CityNews)

Martin Bruyere with a WWII-era Lee–Enfield rifle and poppies outside the General Vanier branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in Roxboro. (Photo Credit: Pamela Pagano, CityNews)

For John Floud, the current Legion President who was a volunteer firefighter in the community for 27 years says it was rough to not be one to help take out this fire where faulty electrical may be to blame according to initial verifications.

“I’m heartbroken, there’s a lot of history and a lot of history of the town,” said Floud. “We live in a fabulous town, borough, I still call it town. It’s rough.”

Dimitrios Jim Beis, Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough Mayor stating: “Every time we’ve gone in, we’ve been welcomed, like like we’re part of the family. And to see it in this state is devastating. I can only imagine for the folks that have been here much longer than I have and have to witness this.”

Sitting in the aftermath of the fire, poppies the Legion was set to hand out are covered in the smell of smoke.

Poppies outside the General Vanier branch of the Royal Canadian Legion in Roxboro. (Photo Credit: Pamela Pagano, CityNews)

“Our poppies weren’t burnt, but they were smoke damaged,” explained Bruyere. “What we’re trying to do right now, we were testing to see if they’re outside for a little while, if the smell of smoke will go away. But it looks like we’re going to have to rebuild them all. We have over 5,000 poppies upstairs in our storage, and they’re also unusable.”

Funds from the poppy campaign go directly to veterans, community organizations that support them, and local cadets – not to the Legion branch.

“A lot of people think the poppies are what keeps our building going. But it’s not, you know, it’s kept going by a lot of very dedicated volunteers.”

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The Legion encourages the community to purchase their poppy – if one would also like to help them re-establish themselves they ask to contact the legion directly by email to know their immediate needs: roxborolegionhallrentals@gmail.com

“Help out the Legion we desperately need because our legions are dying as our veterans dying,” said Floud.