Deadly NDG apartment fire may have been intentionally set by victim, police say

Montreal police are continuing their investigation after a man in his 60s was found dead following a fire in an apartment in NDG on Sunday.

The fire started at the building on Grand Boulevard near Saint-Jacques Street shortly after 12 p.m.

Neighbours reported seeing smoke billowing from one of the top-floor apartments.

Firefighters pulled an unconscious man from the building, who was part of a program helping people transition out of homelessness.

They performed CPR, but he was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Manouck Verlail, a neighbour, said she didn’t know the victim, but the tragedy has left her shaken.

The police arson squad is investigating the cause of the fire, but suspects the victim may have intentionally set it in order to end his own life.

The apartment building is owned and operated by the non-profit group Les Habitations Communautaires NDG, with social services provided by the Old Brewery Mission.

“The board was apprised of this incident, and I attended the scene and remained until the police and firefighters had left. Representatives of the management company, Gérer son Quartier (GSQ), were also present and contacted the insurer of the building,” said Debra Fogel, vice president of Les Habitations Communautaires NDG (HCNDG). “The board has contacted community organizations to see what help can be made available. As property managers, our main concern is repairing the damage to the building and, as a non-profit, being able to pay for those repairs.”

She adds that tenants housed at 2035 Grand are part of the Old Brewery Mission, “and the housing support services director is working with those tenants and coordinating with GSQ.”

Old Brewery Mission President James Hughes says additional support for residents is being made available.

“It is with deep sadness that we learned of the death of one of the participants in our housing support service, following a fire in a building on Grand Boulevard,” he said. “Over the years, by providing him with psychosocial support at home, we had the privilege of forming a meaningful human connection with him.”

Verlail lives in the adjacent building and says the fire alarm goes off several times per month — so often, she says, some residents have started ignoring it.

“There was one person that went outside, and she saw the smoke, and then she went inside,” Verlail said.

Damage from the fire was contained to the apartment and to the roof, and there were no other injuries.