Ensemble Montréal questions city’s fire prevention plan

The official opposition for the city of Montreal held a press conference Thursday to voice a number of concerns regarding the city’s fire prevention plan.

“The Plante administration has been quite silent on this matter,” said Louis-Riel district councillor Alba Zuniga Ramos, from Ensemble Montréal. “And we’re talking about the safety and security of Montrealers.”

Following a deadly fire in Old Montreal this past March, news that the city’s Fire Department had placed a moratorium on some aspects of fire inspections has raised questions.

“In the space of a few months we have experienced a few tragedies that have claimed the lives of 7 people and have destroyed our precious cultural heritage,” said Zuniga Ramos. “We have an administration that seems to be vague when it comes to answers. We don’t have answers that are clear, we do not understand this new approach. And this silence and lack of transparency is really intolerable for the safety of Montrealers.”

End of smoke alarm brigadiers

One of the concerns voiced, a decision by the city to no longer employ smoke alarm brigadiers who go from door to door to make sure residents have working smoke alarms in their homes.

“We also learned recently the abolition of the brigades responsible for verifying the presence and proper operation of smoke alarms,” said Zuniga Ramos. “None of that information was announced.”

In response, the city has said that it was having a hard time finding students to employ for these brigades, and that many people would not be present when the brigades knocked on doors.