A week since Old Montreal fire, second crane will be used to speed up search for bodies

A second crane will be used to speed up the search in the rubble of the building that was engulfed in flames exactly one week ago in Old Montreal, where at least three people are still missing.

During their daily press briefing on Thursday morning, fire and police authorities assured that the search teams remain highly motivated to provide answers to the families, even if the operations are complex due to the state of the ravaged building.

On Wednesday evening, two more bodies were pulled from the rubble, bringing the total to four since the search began.

These discoveries came a few hours after the identity of a first victim was confirmed: Camille Maheux, 76 years old, whose body was found Sunday.  A second body was found on Tuesday.

(Credit: Petunia Alves)

First victim officially identified from the Old Montreal fire: Camille Maheux. (Photo courtesy: Renata Falzoni)

The arrival of a second crane will allow teams “to move forward a little faster in the work,” explained Montreal fire operations chief Martin Guilbault on Thursday morning.

He recalled that, until now, all searches are done from a gondola attached to a crane, since the state of the building does not allow the responders to walk inside. Cameras, a drone and other tools are also used in these “manual” searches.

Montreal fire operations chief Martin Guilbault and nspector David Shane of the Montreal police (SPVM) give an update on Old Montreal fire search. March 23, 2023 (CREDIT: Alyssia Rubertucci/CityNews)

Inspector David Shane of the Montreal police (SPVM) reiterated that there may be people in the building whose disappearance has not been reported to the authorities, like tourists who were staying there via Airbnb or socially isolated people.

“There might be other people, other victims in the rubble. At this point, there’s no specific information pertaining to that. But it is when we when you look at all the hypotheses, it is a possibility that we cannot exclude,” added Shane. “As we are conducting searches, we’re keeping that aspect in mind and being open in our searches that maybe eventually we might find somebody that wasn’t accounted for.”

“While it’s not really not possible for us to to plan or anticipate when we will be able to find other victims in the rubble. It’s really a day to day process as a responders plan. You know, there’s different expertise put forward to try to maximize the probabilities of finding victims. As we go further into the building.”

In total, the SPVM has been in contact with the families of seven people reported missing following the fire of the building located at Port Street and Place d’Youville. The victims from Quebec, Ontario and the United States.

The police are still investigating the cause of the fire.

“The challenges and constraint that we’ve been facing since the outbreak of this major fire have made the searches extremely difficult,” said Shane. “Nevertheless, the responders from all organizations on the ground remain highly motivated and determined to accomplish their mission – because what drives us is to alleviate the anguish and the pain of the families. We are all committed to the end.”

Shane also announced that the daily 8 a.m. press briefings would now be streamed on the SPVM website so families could follow along or their YouTube channel.

This report was first published in La Presse Canadienne in French, March 23, 2023.