Fire being fought at Bon Pasteur
A five-alarm fire broke out around 4:30 pm Thursday on the roof of the monastère du Bon‑Pasteur at the corner of Sherbrooke and St‑Dominique. Nobody was hurt. The building houses a seniors’ residence, a housing co-op, a daycare and condominiums, and also hosts art exhibits and classical musical performances.
EmilyG 22:59 on 2023-05-25 Permalink
I’ve been to a lot of great concerts there. It’s sad to hear this news.
carsswell 23:34 on 2023-05-25 Permalink
The CTV article reports that it is the chapelle wing of the building, which now houses the concert hall (with Heritage Montreal offices located directly underneath), that appears to be the most severely damaged. If so, this is doubly sad news for music lovers and musicians. The city already has a dearth of venues for small ensembles, especially affordable venues and double especially ones with good acoustics, and has now lost, at least temporarily, one of the best. And who knows what’s happened to the magnificent instruments, most notably the grand piano and an 18th-century harpsichord, regularly used in performances? Hoping the damage is not extensive and the hall is restored and even improved.
shawn 08:21 on 2023-05-26 Permalink
The fire is STILL burning as of this morning. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/bon-pasteur-monastere-montreal-fire-1.6855139
Kate 08:49 on 2023-05-26 Permalink
So much so that the air quality is down Friday morning.
MarcG 08:58 on 2023-05-26 Permalink
I smelled it all the way in Verdun around 6pm last night.
shawn 09:30 on 2023-05-26 Permalink
Wow, Verdun. From Sherbrooke East… incredible.
carswell 10:19 on 2023-05-26 Permalink
Heartbreaking drone footage from earlier this morning. This makes it look like the fire is mostly confined to the roof/upper storeys.
https://twitter.com/ClothildeNdri/status/1662050108295245824
shawn 15:29 on 2023-05-26 Permalink
La Presse reporting at 2:10 pm Friday that the fire is still not extinguished.
Ephraim 22:43 on 2023-05-26 Permalink
With a concert hall with the public… why was this not retrofitted with a sprinkler system?
Please, can we not think of retro-fitting certain buildings with fire suppression systems? Especially when you have a concert hall, where hundreds can perish in one go!