Five-alarm fire in a residential building in downtown Montreal
Posted July 29, 2025 8:12 am.
Last Updated July 29, 2025 6:35 pm.
More than a hundred Montreal firefighters battled a major fire in a residential building in downtown Montreal on Tuesday morning.
The fire department was called to the building, which houses shops on the ground floor and apartments above, at the intersection of Sainte-Catherine and Towers streets at 2 a.m.
“Firefighters arrived very quickly and performed a rescue on a balcony, getting one person out,” said Francis Fleury, the chief of fire prevention at Service de Sécurité Incendie de Montréal (SIM). “Then, they evacuated the entire building.”
Approximately 150 firefighters are responding to the fire. Firefighters evacuated and rescued the residents who were then taken in by the Red Cross.
“About 30 people have been assisted by the Red Cross,” said Fleury.
The people inside were all able to get out safely, no injuries were reported.
“No civilians or firefighters were taken to the hospital or required medical transport,” said Fleury.
“It was really dangerous and scary,” said Victoria, 18, who was renting an Airbnb in the adjacent building.
“Around 2 a.m., me and my boyfriend, we were watching a movie and then we smelled a horrible plastic chemical smell, and we looked around for it,” said Victoria.
“We went to the bathroom and there was smoke coming from the pot light. The stairwell was full of smoke and fire. So, we couldn’t go that way, but we had no other exit other than the terrace but there was another story to go down, so then we were trapped there. Then when we were outside, a huge fire started to the right of us, like maybe the other apartment beside us and it made an explosion.”
Victoria, who is from Toronto said that first responders used a ladder to help them get out of their building.
“A huge fire started to the right of us, like maybe to the other apartment beside us and it like made an explosion. So then we were like really scared, we were on the phone with the police and the fire department and then they didn’t even notice us, it took them a little bit to come, but they didn’t notice, we had to bang on the window so they’d see that we were outside and we didn’t even have anywhere to exit so they had to bring a ladder for us to crawl down,” she explained.
“It was really scary. I’ve never been in a fire before, so yeah. It was so scary and the explosion was the scariest part.” Before adding, “We got out in time. Not with anything, all of our stuff is gone, but yeah, we’re lucky to be safe.”
The building is heavily damaged by the flames that firefighters were still trying to control on Tuesday morning.
“The building is an old one, from the 1900s, so it’s wood that burns for a long time,” said Fleury. “The structure makes the work very difficult for the firefighters.”
The fire was burning high from the building, you know. So, and I stayed four hours,” said Cristina Anton, a resident in an apartment across the street from the fire. “And I saw people, the evacuees were here. Yeah, it was quite traumatic, I would say.”
Adding, “Somebody said it must be some fuel or something, the fire is so big and continuous. And she said, maybe they have oil or, you know, it’s a restaurant.”
The fire has resulted in ongoing outages in the area. People are being asked to avoid the scene as winds are causing the smoke to spread throughout the neighbourhood.
“In the area, the smoke could pose risks,” said Fleury. “So, we’re advising people to stay away. “One piece of advice I can give is to check your smoke detectors at home, that’s a safety tip.”
The occupants of the building will not be able to return due to the damage.
“The cause of the fire is still undetermined at this time, we’ll have more information later in the day,” said Fleury. “What’s certain is that the fire quickly spread to the roof, which explains the large blaze.”
Arson is not suspected. A fried chicken restaurant is located on the first floor of the building.
Montreal firefighters were still battling the blaze well into Tuesday with 95 per cent of it put out by 2 p.m.
—With files from The Canadian Press
