Loved ones of those renting Airbnbs in building ravaged by fatal fire searching for answers

Worry consumes Yukun Zeng, a man from Chicago who is in Montreal to look for his friend. She was staying in the Old Montreal building that went up in flames March 16 and killed at least one woman.

“We definitely want more information from either hospital from policemen or even at least Airbnb,” he said, standing at the scene of the ravaged building, as he awaits in agony for answers.

“It’s super heartbreaking,” he said. “Once you are really on site, you’ll start to visualize about what’s really happened.”

His friend An Wu was in Montreal for a conference and was staying on the third floor of the building located at Place d’Youville. She was renting an Airbnb for the night.

He says he’s still unsure if Wu is one of the hospitalized and injured or if she’s among the six missing.

READ MORE:

• One dead, 6 missing as police search for victims of fire in Old Montreal
• Two fires in Montreal early Monday, one deadly

“We still want to find some help,” he added.

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Rescue efforts continued

On Monday, a rescue team was dismantling the second and third floors of the building.

Montreal’s fire chief, Richard Liebmann, was on hand, thanking firefighters for their courage battling the blaze and saving lives.

“They rescued many people from windows and from other parts of the building,” he said. “Nine people were transported to the hospital, of which two are still hospitalized.”

“We still don’t know if there’s other people, so the investigation is going to take time, it’s going to be long,” says Montreal police chief, Fady Dagher.

Mayor Valérie Plante also on the scene, grieving the recent death of her father and reassuring the victims’ families.

“I know their wait must be horrible and I feel their pain,” she said. “I want to tell them that we will do the inquiry as fast as we can to find all the answers.”

Old Montreal Fire. (Photo Credit: Alyssia Rubertucci, CityNews)

Airbnb under fire

Mayor Plante also took aim at Airbnb, since the building housed some of their short term rentals, which aren’t authorized to operate in that part of the city.

Firefighters have said that several apartments in the building located in Old Montreal were being used as Airbnb rentals, and police have said that they didn’t know how many of the missing were tourists.

A lawyer for the building’s owner said on Sunday that Airbnb rentals were operated by tenants only, adding that steps had been taken to stop the practice.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante speaks to the media Monday, March 20, 2023 at the scene of last week’s fire that left one person dead and six people missing in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Plante said San Francisco-based Airbnb is “washing its hands” of the problem of illegal rentals in cities across the province.

She said the company, which operates an online marketplace for short-term rentals, should ensure people listing their properties on the website have proper permits.

Plante said she communicated with Airbnb’s lead in Canada and asked them to forbid rentals for people who don’t get a certificate with Quebec‘s Revenue Department, which oversees the short-term rental industry.

Nathan Rotman, Regional Policy Lead for Airbnb Canada tells CityNews in a statement:

“Our hearts go out to the victims of this tragedy, and to their families and loved ones. We are providing our support to those affected, and we are assisting law enforcement as they investigate. We are also engaged with the mayor’s office.”

Airbnb says it runs a global detector program, giving away combined smoke and CO detectors at no cost to eligible hosts. They also say they work with fire services and safety experts around the world on guidance.

Quebec to tighten rules

Quebec’s Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx, at the scene of the fatal fire in Old Montreal, announced she will introduce new legislation soon to toughen rules for Airbnbs in Quebec and better regulate short-term housing rentals.

In 2018, a law was adopted that requires people to get written authorization from their condo association or landlord to rent on a short term. 

Proulx says she wants to oblige all short-term rental postings online to include a permit number.

“The moment you get the certification number, we will ask you on the platform to upload a photo of the proof that you can rent on a short term basis,” she said. “And if they don’t conform, hosts and platforms will face fines.” 

This would put Quebec on par with  North American cities.

A long wait for answers

It could take another week or two before police and the fire department finish investigating to uncover what exactly may have led to the blaze, as they look for the victims. 

Yukun is hoping authorities will bring him closer to finding out where his friend is.

“We still have some hope for some miracle.