Firefighters battle five-alarm blaze in east-end Montreal

Seven families were forced from their homes, and a firefighter was injured in a fire in east Montreal.

A five-alarm fire is burning at a two-storey commercial-residential building in Montreal’s Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough early Thursday morning.

According to the Montreal fire department, 150 firefighters are on the scene of a blaze on the corner of Notre-Dame Street and Paul-Pau Street in the Tétreaultville neighbourhood.

“We have cut the power to the sector,” said Émilie Barbeau-Charlebois, a spokesperson with the Montreal fire department, adding she could not yet confirm where or how the fire started.

Seven families have been evacuated from their homes, and one firefighter is being treated for minor injuries.

“We saw a fire coming from the convenience store,” said Charles-André Gonthier, a nearby resident who says he was removed from his home at 4 a.m. “All the balconies had fallen off from the face of the building to the cars downstairs.”

Parti Québécois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon took to social media Thursday morning to express support for the families affected.

“My heart goes out to the families who were evacuated last night due to a fire in Tétreaultville,” he said, adding that the Red Cross is on site and the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) is ready to assist if needed.

St-Pierre Plamondon, whose riding, Camille-Laurin, comprises the Tétreaultville neighbourhood, adds that his team is “in contact with the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough regarding this matter.”

“I also wish a speedy recovery to the firefighter who was injured during the response,” he said.

The building in question incorporates commercial spaces on the ground floor and residential units upstairs.

People are being asked to avoid the area.