A tragic fire in Old Montreal claimed the lives of a mother and her seven-year-old daughter from France. The blaze, which is being investigated as suspicious by major crimes detectives and the arson squad, broke out in a century-old building early Friday morning. Montreal police identified the victims as 43-year-old Léonor Geraudie and seven-year-old Vérane Reynaud Geraudie. The victims were the only fatalities in the fire, as the other 23 people who were in the building at the time managed to escape. One person sustained non-life-threatening injuries and remained in the hospital.
The fire started on the ground floor of the building, which housed a restaurant and wine bar called Loam, and quickly spread to the upper floors that were rented out to a third party operating a 19-room hostel called Le 402. The building at 400 Notre-Dame Street East, where the fire occurred, was built in 1923 and belongs to Emile Benamor. Benamor also owned a heritage building nearby on Place D’Youville that caught fire in March 2023 and resulted in seven fatalities. Multiple lawsuits were filed after the Place D’Youville fire, and a coroner’s inquest is pending until the conclusion of the police investigation and any potential criminal trials.
Officials are working to expedite inquests into both fires, with the province’s security minister, François Bonnardel, exploring ways to combine the two tragedies into a single inquest. Bonnardel refrained from commenting on allegations of the involvement of organized crime groups or extortion, stating that it is premature to make any conclusions. City fire department chief Martin Guilbault mentioned that the Notre-Dame building had received infractions during an inspection in 2023, including the absence of fire and smoke alarm systems, which were rectified by spring 2024. The building did not have sprinklers, although they were not mandated.
In the aftermath of the fire, roughly 40 people were evacuated from the building and surrounding area. The Canadian Red Cross took in 16 individuals from 400 Notre-Dame Street East and assisted 22 families from a nearby address. Montreal fire department spokesperson George Bele stated that firefighters brought the blaze under control between 2 and 3 a.m. on Saturday, 24 hours after it began. The investigation into the fire is ongoing, with officials looking into possible causes and any lapses in building safety standards. Despite the tragic loss of life, the community is rallying together to support those affected by the fire and ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.
