A year after deadly Old Montreal fire, families remain heartbroken, angry
No charges have been laid, lawsuits are ongoing
"A year later, we still feel shock and disbelief that this has happened and our son has been taken from us," said Randy Sears.
Sitting next to his wife Beth in their New Brunswick home, Sears can't help but get worked up. He says he continues to feel a myriad of emotions.
"Confusion. Anger. Anxiety."
In the early hours of March 16, 2023, a fire broke out at a heritage building in Old Montreal.
Flames quickly spread, exploding windows and engulfing the building in smoke. Of the 22 people in the building at the time, seven died : Charlie Lacroix, An Wu, Nathan Sears, Dania Zafar, Camille Maheux, Saniya Khan and Walid Belkalha.
Six of them were staying in illegal Airbnbs at the time, including Nathan.
"Our life has been left with a gaping hole and a hole that will never really be filled," said Randy Sears.
Now though, he says, there's even more to be angry and frustrated about.
"It's a comedy of errors," Randy says, of the ongoing criminal investigation into the fire, and what he feels is the lack of accountability of various parties, including Airbnb, the building owner and the City of Montreal.
He's not alone. Other families and survivors feel answers are lacking as they continue to deal with the repercussions of that morning.
Criminal investigation ongoing, no charges laid
Montreal police won't comment on the specifics of the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
"We send all our sympathies to the families," Insp. David Shane told Radio-Canada.
"We are following all possible leads in this case. We understand that it's long. We know that for the families it's an eternity but we are working our hardest."
In August though, the case was transferred to the major crimes unit, with the police saying they believe the fire was intentionally set.
"We are now talking about a criminal investigation," Shane, said at the time.
Although no suspect has been formally identified, Radio-Canada learned convicted murderer Denis Bégin is considered the primary one by police.
Bégin is currently serving a life sentence for a murder on Halloween night in 1993.
But in February 2019, he escaped from a minimum-security federal prison and was on the lam for four years.
He was arrested after a vehicle tied to him was spotted on surveillance camera on the night of the deadly fire near the building.
"I mean, how can that happen?" Randy asks.
For Beth Sears, it's how families are getting updates that upsets her most.
"It's upsetting when we receive emails or calls from people that we know, friends that live in other places, and they have seen an article in a newspaper that we haven't seen," she says.
"They have information that we don't know because no one calls us to tell us and that's where we get our information. It blindsides us when that happens."
Zafar Mahmood is equally incredulous. He lost his 31-year-old daughter, Dania Zafar, in the fire.
"A year has passed. Nothing has happened so far," he says from his home in Lahore, Pakistan.
He says his life has changed immeasurably since the fire. Ordinary things that used to bring him joy, like listening to Indian 80s music, or watching cricket, no longer do. Every other day, he visits his daughter's grave.
"I just sit there and just close my eyes and think Dania's with me," he says.
"When the cool breeze blows, I think it's Dania's touch."
Several lawsuits are proceeding
Two weeks after the fire, the Sears family applied to file a class-action lawsuit targeting the building's owner, Emile Benamor; the tenant who was running the short-term rental units, Tariq Hasan; and Airbnb. The lawsuit claimed all three were negligent.
CBC reached out to Hasan and to Benamor's lawyer for comment. Neither responded.
In October, the class action was switched to a civil action under joinder, which brings all similar claims together into one proceeding. The City of Montreal was added to the suit.
Airbnb expressed a desire to settle, and was therefore dropped from the suit. Negotiations continue in the hopes of coming to a settlement agreement.
The company refused to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
For the families of the victims and survivors involved in the suit, it's not just about finding a culprit.
Benjamin Magid had booked an Airbnb in the building with his then-girlfriend Marie Shaughnessy on a trip to Montreal.
When the fire broke out, Magid woke up to smoke billowing through the unit's door. Three of the four windows were glued shut, but they managed to make it out through the fourth window, jumping to a fire escape and then to the ground.
"Probably the most lasting scar I think I have from that day is the survivor's guilt," Magid says from his home in New York City.
Shaughnessy agrees and says she avoids any news about the fire unless her family or friends read it first and relay the main points. She says hearing news about those who died really hurts.
She is still recovering from that morning.
"In the weeks and months afterwards I had this kind of constant state of fear and of just uncertainty," she says.
"Everything was scary to me, like, everything could be a dangerous situation."
The two have joined the lawsuit alongside the Sears and Mahmood, along with others.
"I think it's the best way that I can stand up for what is, or stand against, an obvious wrongdoing from a number of actors, and stand alongside those family members who have experienced loss," Magid says.
Another lawsuit is also proceeding, by the family of Charlie Lacroix, against the City of Montreal and building owner Benamor.
Answers needed, Montreal mayor says
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante understands the frustrations of the families.
"There has to be answers for the families, but also for Montrealers," she says.
"It's been a year and I can understand they're like, 'What's happening? Is there going to be arrests? What are the conclusions?'"
Plante says she's spoken with Montreal's police chief, who has assured her the case is a priority.
For Randy Sears, concrete answers and changes, from all he thinks are involved, including the city, are necessary.
"It probably won't alleviate our emotions until there's some type of culmination to this," he says.
In the Sears' home is a framed Canadian flag. It was flown at half-mast in Nathan's honour at the Canadian Armed Force station in Erbil in Northern Iraq in April last year.
On top of being an academic focused on existential risk, he was also an intelligence analyst for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, a fact the Sears only learned after his death.
"He learned through his intelligence that there was an imminent attack by terrorist groups," Randy says.
"He saved Canadian lives and Iraqi lives, and we have that [flag] at our home. We learned so much about our son following his death."
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With files from Lauren McCallum