Mother and 7-year-old daughter identified as victims in deadly Old Montreal fire

A mother and her seven-year-old daughter have been identified as the victims in Friday’s Old Montreal fire.

Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her daughter Vérane Reynaud-Geraudie were French nationals, according to the SPVM. Their bodies were recovered from the rubble on Friday evening.

“The SPVM extends its most sincere condolences to the victims’ families and loved ones,” Montreal police, who are leading the investigation, wrote in the press release identifying the victims.

The mother and daughter were among the 25 people in the century-old, three-storey building on Notre-Dame Street East, near Bonsecours Street, at the time of the fire. Two other people were injured, police say, including one who remains in hospital in critical condition. All other individuals have been accounted for, and police don’t believe there are any additional victims.

‘Traumatized’: Photographer who captured deadly Old Montreal fire uncertain if woman in distress survived

The suspicious blaze is being considered a “crime scene,” says Alain Vaillancourt, the Montreal executive committee member responsible for public security.

“It’s been handed over to our investigators at the SPVM,” Vaillancourt told reporters Saturday afternoon. “All the resources are on the case to find out the person who set fire to the building.

“I want to reassure everyone that we are doing everything possible to find (who) started the fire and ultimately is responsible for the two deaths.”

The SPVM major crime section is working in cooperation with the force’s arson unit.

“In order not to hinder the investigation, the SPVM will not be releasing any details on the possible causes of the fire or the search for potential suspects at this time,” said SPVM Insp. David Shane. “We understand the public interest and the emotion aroused by this tragedy. Unfortunately, this is leading some people to want to conduct the investigation in the public arena, which is undesirable because it jeopardizes the investigation.

“Let the investigators do their job and maximize their chances of success so that we can bring justice to Madame Geraudie and her daughter.”

A retired commander of specialized investigations at the SPVM tells CityNews investigators will start by working to determine where exactly the fire started.

“And then, of course, they’ll go through the crime scene, interviewing witnesses, finding out if there are any cameras around, if there are any images taken by witnesses,” said Minh-Tri Truong. “So all these elements are collected, are gathered to advance the investigation.”

The fire broke out in the early hours of Friday morning — around 2:40 a.m. — and was brought under control between 2-3 a.m. Saturday, Montreal’s Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM) said.

The building is owned by Emile Benamor, the same owner of the heritage building that caught fire and killed seven in March 2023.

In an email statement to CityNews, Benamor says is is shocked and saddened by the deaths, and offered his “most sincere condolences.”

“Any information that could allow the arrest of the suspects or to understand the cause of this criminal act must be shared with the police authorities in order to avoid a recurrence,” Benamor wrote.

Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel has put in a request for both deadly fires to be combined within the same coroner’s inquest.

“So we will see in the next weeks, in the next days, if it’s possible to combine these two inquiries concerning these two tragedies,” Bonnardel said.

“It’s going to be more rapid to have a conclusion concerning these two events.”

The mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, was sorry to see history repeat itself with the same owner, more than a year after the Place D’Youville fire.

“It’s a situation that we find absolutely deplorable, that we would never wish to have happen twice in two years,” she said at a press briefing on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, some 15 firefighters were still on the scene of the blaze. “They’re doing checks of the entire burned building, and if ever there are small fires to put out, they’ll put them out, and they’re securing the premises,” said SIM spokesperson George Bele.

Several people escaped unharmed from the building, which houses a restaurant on the first floor and a 19-room hotel on the second and third floors. The Red Cross was on the scene to offer assistance.

Montreal police are asking anyone with information on the case to contact 911, their local police station, or Info-Crime Montréal anonymously at 514-393-1133 or via their online form infocrimemontreal.ca.

—With files from La Presse Canadienne