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More than 70 seniors have been forced from their residence after a nearby church fire spread to their building in the early hours of Monday in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough.
A five-alarm fire broke out at the church near the corner of De l’Église Avenue and Laurendeau Street around 1:30 a.m., according to a spokesperson for Montreal’s fire department, Émilie Barbeau-Charlebois.
In total, 148 people were forced to leave the area, said Barbeau-Charlebois.
She said firefighters evacuated the seniors’ home located just beside the church as a preventative measure.
The church fire then spread to the residence where it became a two-alarm fire.
The church was unoccupied when the fire broke out. No injuries have been reported and the Red Cross is looking after the evacuees.
The church site belongs to the Catholic Church of Montreal and was being rented by the Saint Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church. That parish is now crowdfunding to help its relocation to another space.
Just before 1 p.m., Barbeau-Charlebois said crews were still working to put the fires out.