Montreal police arson squad investigating fire at now-demolished historic building near Jacques-Cartier Bridge

With a historic building now a pile of rubble, the work turns to Montreal police’s arson squad to try to determine the cause of the major fire that forced the complete closure of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.

The vacant building – the historic Familex factory that was built in 1910 – went up in flames late Tuesday night.

Firefighters worked throughout the day Wednesday until 1 a.m. Thursday putting out the blaze. The building was then fully demolished.

Montreal police tell CityNews its arson unit investigators were on the scene Thursday morning to “analyze the area” and review nearby surveillance footage.

Also on the scene was the Sûreté du Québec and its canine unit to ensure nobody was inside the vacant building at the time of the fire. The SPVM says that decision was made out of an abundance of caution.

An SPVM spokesperson said Wednesday that arson was not suspected.

The fire forced the full closure of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge for several hours Wednesday, since the building was right up against the structure of the bridge.

Authorities say the Montreal Fire Department (SIM) and the City of Montreal’s public works department were “carrying out necessary repairs.”

Some road closures remained in effect Thursday.

Jacques-Cartier and De Lorimier Avenue were open in both southbound and northbound directions.

But when accessing the bridge northbound, drivers were forced to continue on De Lorimier north and not south.

More coming.