Quebec man tried to intervene, save a life amid the fatal blast in St.-Roch-de-l’Achigan
Posted January 18, 2023 4:32 pm.
Last Updated January 18, 2023 6:16 pm.
After an explosion the morning of Jan. 12 in St.-Roch-de-l’Achigan, 50 kilometres north east of Montreal, nearby resident Eric Lizotte was the first person to respond to help.
He lives just meters away from the blast that occurred at the propane distribution company.
“I was cleaning snow off of my truck and had my eyes on Propane Lafortune and at that moment, I saw the force of the explosion literally blow off part of the roof,” he said.
View of the explosion site from Eric Lizotte’s home. (Credit: Nancy Prud’homme)
He immediately went into first responding mode, jumping into his truck and reaching the site within seconds.
Battling the intense heat of the fires around him, he used snow to cool off his head.
“I yelled out, ‘Is anyone alive?’ and the next moment, I saw a woman waving her hand and trying to get through debris, screaming, ‘Get me out of here.'”
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He struggled to reach one of the victims because of the flames and debris.
“Not even five second later, a part of the wall came crashing down onto the woman, within just a few feet from me and she was gone,” he recounted.
Lizotte had to walk away from the scene. Due to adrenaline, he still continued helping, by blocking off the road to traffic.
He later realized the gravity of what he witnessed, as he tried to intervene.
“I can’t believe I’ve witnessed this in my lifetime,” he said. “It’s really only when my spouse took me in her arms, because she was really scared, that I broke down.”
The blast claimed 3 lives: two employees and a subcontractor.
“It’s sad, we don’t like to see these things, seeing families at risk of being destroyed by things like this,” said resident Réal Lamarche, who passes by the site daily. “What’s the reason?”
Quebec provincial police were still combing the site Wednesday, trying to find a cause. And in passing, have even supported Lizotte.
“They encouraged me saying I did all that I could and now I’m trying to tell myself that,” he said. “I wanted to be able to save her but I know I couldn’t do anything more.”
