10 houses damaged in suspected field fire in St-Hubert

Longueuil police (SPAL) are investigating a suspected field fire that spread and damaged 10 houses in St-Hubert Thursday. Luckily no one was injured.

According to Daniel Deslauriers, spokesperson for Longueuil fire department (SSIAL), three houses sustained significant damages to their exteriors, but the residents were able to return. No one was injured.

Deslaurier added that seven other houses in the area also suffered damages to the fences or sheds, for a total of 10 houses affected by the flames.

In a Facebook post Friday morning, SPAL said they received a 911 call around 4 p.m. Thursday reporting a field fire near Joseph-Daigneault Street.

The firefighters were able to bring the fire under control around 12:55 a.m. Friday.

“The scene has now been cleared, and an SPAL investigation is underway to determine the cause and circumstances of the fire,” police said, Friday morning.

Amid social media speculation, police confirmed that an unhoused person was not considered a suspect based on initial information.

Emergency crews closed off the area along Joseph-Daigneault Street as they worked to contain the fire.

Nearly 9,500 customers also lost power Thursday during the operation.

In a statement to CityNews, Hydro-Québec said it cut off electricity around 5 p.m. based on a request from authorities. Power was restored to a majority of the customers by 9 p.m.

About 100 addresses were without electricity overnight, but service was fully restored by Friday 11 a.m., according Hydro-Québec.

“We had to replace poles and rebuild part of a distribution line crossing the forested area where the fire occurred,” said Cendrix Bouchard, spokesperson for the utility company.

A resident from the area told CityNews Thursday that the flames spread quickly due to strong winds, coming close to nearby homes and igniting patches of dry grass in some front yards.

Benoit Tremblay’s house was one of three that sustained heavy damages from the blaze. He said he received an alert from the alarm system around 4:30 p.m. when he was at work.

“I saw that there was a lot of smoke and that the fence was a little bit on fire,” Tremblay said. “So we just left work to come back here.”

Tremblay said he wasn’t able to go near the house until an hour later due to road closures.

“We didn’t have access to the whole neighbourhood so we had to wait and it was a little bit stressful,” Tremblay said, adding that firefighters were already at his house when he called as soon as seeing the alert.

“(First responders) broke the front door to get the dog, so I was very anxious to see what was the damage or not to the house,” Tremblay said.

By 9 p.m., the fire was under control and Tremblay was able to get inside.

“The family was not there so it’s just damage to the property so we are pretty lucky,” he added.