44-year-old man arrested, released in connection with Terrebonne seniors' home
Verity Stevenson | CBC News | Posted: July 10, 2017 12:54 PM | Last Updated: July 10, 2017
SQ says no decision yet if charges will be laid as investigation continues into cause of Sunday's deadly fire
Police investigating a fatal fire at a seniors' residence northeast of Montreal Sunday are seeking to identify a man whose image was captured by security cameras in the vicinity early that morning.
Sûreté du Québec officers are setting up a mobile command unit near the Oasis residence in Terrebonne, Que., where more than 40 elderly people had to be rescued by firefighters around 1:30 a.m.
A 94-year-old woman died from injuries sustained in the fire. A dozen people were sent to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Two residents, at least one employee of the residence and two police officers were among those injured.
Terrebonne police turned the investigation over to the SQ's arson unit later Sunday after firefighters found elements on the scene that led them to believe the fire could have been deliberately set.
The man seen in the security camera video is being described as a white male with dark hair. He is wearing a plaid shirt in images distributed by authorities.
Police already arrested and questioned a 44-year-old man before releasing him, and police said a case is being built against that suspect.
Investigators are expanding their search for witnesses.
Sprinkler system being installed
On Monday, a company in the process of installing a sprinkler system in the Oasis residence told Radio-Canada that the project wasn't complete, and the sprinklers were not yet working at the time of the fire.
Sylvain Guilbault told CBC's French-language service that his company, Protection incendie Atlas, had set up about three-quarters of the necessary infrastructure at the residence.
Following the 2014 fire at a seniors' home in L'Isle-Verte, Que., northeast of Quebec City, in which 32 people died, the provincial government made sprinklers mandatory in most seniors' residences.
The homes' operators have until December 2020 to comply.
However, in the meantime, fires continue to claim the lives of seniors in care. In January, an elderly resident of a seniors' home in Villeray died in a four-alarm fire.
That residence was also not yet equipped with a sprinkler system.
Like having a firefighter in every room
Gordon Routley, a division chief at the Montreal fire department, speaking on CBC Montreal's Daybreak Monday, said elderly residents are especially vulnerable when it comes to fires.
They make up most of the deaths in Montreal fires, he said, "which is why we have been advocating having sprinklers for a long time."
Sprinklers are 95 per cent successful at extinguishing fires at their source, he said.
"We equate it to having a firefighter with a charged hose line, standing at every room," Routley said. "Generally, by the time the fire department arrives, it's a matter of turning off the water and mopping up."
With the 2020 deadline looming, the demand for sprinkler systems has just started picking up recently, said Sylvain Tremblay of Protection Incendie Idéal, a Laval company that installs them.
Tremblay said it may be difficult for many seniors' residences to cover the cost, which ranges from $75,000 to $100,000.
"Ideally, residences would all have 100 per cent sprinkler coverage," he said, noting the Terrebonne fire underlined their importance.
Installing a new system takes about a month, Tremblay said.
Other renovations underway
The new sprinkler system wasn't the only work being done at the Oasis residence.
Dolores Lavoie lived in the apartment building next door which was sold to the owner of the Oasis residence some years ago.
Along with six neighbours, Lavoie had to move three years ago, when the owner decided he'd connect the two buildings by constructing an annex between them.
"It definitely affected us when we heard of the fire," said Lavoie, who went back to her old home yesterday to survey the damage.
Though she didn't know her personally, she said the woman who died used to sit on the swing in the backyard of the Oasis residence with some other elderly residents.
"They were so friendly and would always say 'hi' and chat," Lavoie said.
Oasis residents re-housed
The health and social services agency for the region has found beds in other residences to house the fire's evacuees, said Christian Gagné, the director of CISSS de Lanaudière.
Most of the residents have been put up in Repentigny, in the former Le Gardeur hospital.
The CISSS de Lanaudière is also offering mental health support to everyone who was affected.
Sylvain Chartier's 64-year-old sister-in-law was among the residents sent to hospital.
Chartier said she had some sores on her hands, but she didn't have too much trouble getting out with some help from a residence employee.
She has limited mobility, as do most of the other Oasis residents, Chartier said. He visited her in the hospital Sunday.
"We were talking with the other residents, and everyone was in good spirits," he said, adding they didn't seem to have been informed of their 94-year-old fellow resident's death.