Pointe Claire:apartment fire leaves many homeless

Eleven tenants of a three-floor apartment building on Delmar in Pointe Claire are left homeless this hour after a mysterious fire broke out at around 12:30 p.m.. "I'm pretty sure I have nothing left," said Nick Botazzi, a tenant who walked in with a friend into his second-floor room for a leisurely video game session, only to rush out as a neighbour warned them of flames instead. "I didn't know what was going on, I wanted to go in and check on my cat," Botazzi added, watching as firefighters inside the empty, charred remains of several rooms dumped scraps of furniture on a yard in the back of the building. "The firefighters didn't say anything about finding it," Botazzi said, but he recognized some charred objects as pieces of his dining room table and couch. "I have no clue what to do," he said, adding he might go stay at a friend's house for a while.

Officials are not commenting on any possible causes yet. "We've handed the file over to the SPVM (Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal)," said Montreal fire department spokesperson Louise Desrosiers, stating there may be a criminal element to it. However, onlookers at the scene suggested it may have had to do with the inattention of a second-floor tenant, a senior citizen who fell asleep with a lit cigarette. "I know the lady that started it," said Derek Wilson, who lives in an adjacent apartment building.

Wilson said his own room is on the second floor of that building. "The smoke was coming in through my window," he said.

Earlier today, the person in question had been outside, explaining what had happened, Wilson said.

Furthermore, he said, this was the second time this tenant accidentally started a fire in the same neighbourhood.

According to Wilson, she used to live in an apartment building across the street. That one caught fire two years ago when she forgot some food she was cooking on the stove in her kitchen, he said.

Mike Carbray, a resident of that building, was caught in the previous fire. Looking at the similar fate befalling his neighbours now, he recalled how helpful Pointe Claire Rescue had been to him at the time, even as members of the local volunteer group helped steer evacuees toward a bus today. "I would just be in the street, if it wasn't for them," Carbray said.

Carbray was put up for three days at a nearby hotel on Hymus Boulevard, along with other tenants who had had no place to go, as well as given a food voucher at a Nickels Restaurant every day, along with a voucher to shop for clothes at Zellers. "It's absolutely amazing," he said.

Some tenants who lost their homes today said they would likely be staying with loved ones for a while. "I'm going to stay at my girlfriend's parents' house for the night, and figure out what's going on tomorrow," said Andrew Forgacs.

Another, John Stasinopoulos, said he had a lot of family that could help him out. He was called by a friend living next-door as soon as the latter saw the fire breaking out.

As he lives on the opposite side of the apartment from where the fire started, Stasinopoulos was anxious to see if damages to his goods were serious. "There's not going to be much damage for you," a friend, Whitney Étienne told him as they watched the aftermath of the fire together in a small group. "Hopefully, man," he replied.

Montreal police media relations officer Olivier Lapointe said a police investigation is just about to begin. "We really have no information yet as to any criminal activity," he said.