By The Canadian Press
Feb 23, 2026 | 8:02 AM
MONTREAL — A fire has destroyed a historic former church in southwestern Montreal and the flames spread to an adjacent seniors home.
The fire broke out around 1:40 a.m. in the former Saint-Paul Church in the city’s Sud-Ouest borough.
No one was inside the building when it caught fire but officials evacuated 148 people from the nearby area as a precaution.
Among the evacuees were 73 people in the church’s former rectory, which had been converted into a seniors residence.