Jacques-Cartier Bridge partially reopens after major fire at vacant historic building now being demolished
Posted January 21, 2026 6:42 am.
Last Updated January 22, 2026 6:56 am.
The Jacques-Cartier Bridge partially reopened to traffic Wednesday afternoon, hours after a major fire in a vacant building on the Montreal side forced the complete closure of the bridge.
Two lanes of traffic from Montreal to the South Shore were the first to reopen. Two lanes from the South Shore to Montreal opened shortly after.
As of Thursday, the Fire Department concluded its fire intervention at 1 a.m. Arson Unit investigators will be on scene this morning to analyze the area, while Public Works and the City Fire Department are carrying out necessary repairs.
Police will also be reviewing nearby surveillance camera footage.
Road closures remain in effect. Jacques-Cartier and De Lorimier Avenue are open in both southbound and northbound directions; however, when accessing the bridge northbound, traffic must continue on De Lorimier north and not south.
While the bridge gradually reopened to traffic, the demolition of the historic building was underway. Two nearby billboards — at the edge of the back of the building — posed a safety concern and were also being demolished.
Montreal police (SPVM) have taken over the investigation into the fire. The Montreal Fire Department (SIM) was not immediately able to confirm if there were any occupants in the building at the time of the blaze.
Fire at vacant factory that forced the closure of the Jacques Cartier Bridge on Jan. 21, 2026. (Video submitted by: Tanya Lucas)
Reopening the bridge, even partially, was a priority for the SIM early on Wednesday.
“We are doing everything we can to be as quick, efficient, and fast as possible,” SIM spokesperson Martin Guilbault said at a late Wednesday morning press conference. “However, we must do so safely and ensure that we do not reopen the bridge only to have to close it again because the building has shifted or something else has happened.”
A spokesperson for the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated hoped the bridge could be partially reopened for afternoon rush hour, and the group got its wish.
“We are currently conducting an inspection of the bridge,” said the group’s communications director Nathalie Lessard. “Our worry is that, I’ll give you an image: it’s like the building on fire was like a space heater. It’s really warm inside and it radiates heat around it. So this building, we’re afraid, radiated so much heat that it might have affected the structure of the bridge.”
The closure was caused by the fire at the vacant building on De Lorimier Avenue and Logan Street, at the foot of the bridge on the Montreal side. The fire department told CityNews the building has heritage status.
The building has been identified as the historic Familex factory, which was built in 1910 and “best known for the curve it imposes on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge,” according to the Écomusée du fier monde
“It was first occupied by soap manufacturer Joseph Barsalou, whose company was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1935,” Écomusée wrote on Instagram. “Then, in 1943, Roméo Parent’s pharmaceutical company Familex acquired the building. It remained there until 1983, when it passed into the hands of Pierre Valcourt and Maison Premier Plan. The Valcourt family sold the building to the company Cosoltec in 2019.”
In a statement to CityNews the current owners of the building Bertone said, “We were planning to begin a project on this site in the near future, which included
integrating this building of historical interest to the neighbourhood. However, the project has been temporarily put on hold while the situation is being assessed.”
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the first responders, who remain on site, for their essential work. We are also mindful of the inconvenience caused by this incident, particularly for the many motorists affected.”
Possible demolition?
Montreal police spokesperson Const. Jeanne Drouin told CityNews arson was not suspected.
“Once the fire is completely under control, investigators from the SPVM’s arson unit will be able to go to the scene, analyze it, and try to determine the causes of the reaction,” Drouin said.
Earlier, Lessard said the building’s eventual demolition could impact the safety of the Jacques Cartier Bridge.
“This might cause the debris to fall on the bridge,” she said. “So we are certainly going to keep a few lanes closed for that. We have to de-ice the bridge, making sure, because there was a lot of water around it. But also the City of Montreal is actually proceeding with de-icing the area surrounding the bridge. So it’s not only reopening the bridge, we have to make sure that the streets around it are safe as well for traffic.”
Drouin said the SPVM hadn’t contacted the owner of the building, where squatters were known to be found on occasion, and that the building will remain until investigators can inspect the site.
“In cases like this, investigators will do it with caution,” she said. “They want to make sure that if there are any questions, they will use techniques to make it as safe as possible.”
Firefighters were called Tuesday evening at 11:30 p.m. to respond to the blaze, which started on the first floor of the abandoned industrial building and spread to the upper floors.
Éric Lafrance, section chief of the SIM, said firefighters had not gone inside the building by Wednesday morning because they were worried the billboards around the building might collapse.
The bridge deck was being used to fight the fire, Lafrance said.
— With files from The Canadian Press
