The remains of that day photo: Joseph Yarmush

"It's one of those unpredictable things that you just can't imagine," says fire victim Jon Mitchell, formerly of 5853 Parc, directly above the store that erupted. "I had left the apartment and had crossed the street to go to the dep. I walked about a car's length and then the store underneath us blew up in a huge explosion. It was like out of a movie, it was crazy."

Mitchell says that, despite firefighters indicating they have no leads on the cause of the explosion, he has his own ideas. "I'll tell you honestly, it all started off when [girlfriend Nora Harun] and I smelled gasoline in our place. We were used to smelling certain solvents, which is why this time we really noticed that it smelled like gasoline and not Easy Off... I volunteered to go check on my way to the dep, so I went down the stairs - it really smelled strongly, horribly - and after leaving the apartment building I actually looked into the store to see if somebody was there. I saw no one, and went across the street and the store blew up and glass hit my legs. There were washers and dryers on the sidewalk and one was in the middle of the street."

Mitchell is lucky to be alive. "Imagine if I had been looking in the store."

Mitchell filed a police report, but has yet to hear anything back, though his landlord informed him that there was no natural gas in the building. "And it didn't smell like natural gas anyway."

Mitchell and Harun, like most of the other residents - including well-respected local musician Chris Burns, of Crackpot and Nutsak among others - lost everything. "There was no time to pick anything up. I had to go back and get Nora out. Because the staircase was blown out, I had to use the neighbour's stairs and then cross over to our balcony and break the window with a chair."

"When it comes to our stuff, it's only material," he says, then adds with apparent pain, "but it's really horrible that we lost our cats."

Benefit concerts are planned for the fire's victims - we'll keep you posted

 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

News flash!     It's difficult to imagine anything this surreal happening in real life. Stange smells and exploding businesses taking out a whole living complex in a hail of glass and equipment don't happen in the here and now...this is what TV and movies are for, this is where we expect to see the spectacular. Now this dubious disater has left an imprint on Montreal's storied face and regardless of how it all plays out in the pages of local history for the people that lived there this was as real as it got.
Pedro Eggers		March 24th, 2006
Horrible!!!     It's horrible to think that in a couple of minutes you can loose everything to the fire. I hope they all had insurance. Not only did this event has disfigured the neighborhood but it threw everyone to the streets right in the middle of the winter. The worst about all this is that it seems to be criminal. I only hope that this is not only an insurance scam from the owner of the store.
Daniel Leduc	{22 votes}	February 8th, 2006
Unpredictable????     I may not understand the author's idea very well. However, I do think this is 100% controllable and avoidable if enough careness is given. I don't know why this article doesn't give any analysis of the cause of this disaster but just repeat words of the terribly frightened people. I hope when others read this article they are not also frightened but can learn from this event and know how to predict and control such a promising danger.
Leo Liao	{11 votes}	February 8th, 2006
Tragic     With a fire so intense, it is a miracle that no one died. It was horrible that the tenants cats were not saved. I can't imagine losing my home or my beloved cats. We should all contribute a little something to help these people. Just a looney from everyone who reads the paper would probably be amazing. Keep us informed about the benefit concert.
Joyce Stemkowsky	{10 votes}	February 6th, 2006
Pity for Park     Hmmm, this is a very suspicious turn of events, not that I necessarily want to cast aspersions upon anyone. Shameful that so many people should be displaced, both their homes lives torn asunder by such incredible devestation. I'm only grateful that no one was grievously hurt...regardless, my heart goes out to those who's lives have been irrevocably changed by this tragic ordeal.
Mark St Pierre	{16 votes}	February 5th, 2006
Parc ave's explosion...     i was walking up the street when the explosion occured and later ran into a friend standing on the corner who'd been sitting in romolo's cafe when it had happened...the noise was terrible and frightening and she'd said that the windows at the cafe had shook....and we were both far enough from the scene... i can't imagine what it must have felt like to have actually been in the building, least of all standing moments previously on the outside of the first floor looking in... i don't think that i've ever experienced a 5 alarm fire that closely... the air was heavy with smoke and toxins for hours later, barely breathable...living one bloke east, i could see the firemen and the flames coming from the roof top... how horribly sad - my heart and prayers goes out to everyone affected by the explosion...
Genia Chepurniy	{42 votes}	February 4th, 2006
The Way of Development     It isn't fair to tenants along that main, on St Denis near Duluth, on Mount Royal corner St Urbain and now on Parc and Bernard that this has to happen. There is no great conspiracy, there is no need for a university degree to figure out that these fires are mostly, if not all, planned. I would think that disgruntled landlords unhappy with rent freezes or the condo industry is behind them in a way. It could be a scary thought, not knowing which group of tenements would be slated next for a bonfire. It's also a hard fact of life as new housing development continues in very popular areas of Montreal where more lucrative rents can be charged. Unfortunately not all developers knock on doors to evict unwanted tenants.
Martin Dansky	{23 votes}	February 4th, 2006
Tragedy Hits...Hard.     What a wake up call eh? I mean really. It could all be gone in a second & what can you do? Just be, I suppose. This couple sound very brave and strong despite everything, but what was really at the bottom of that explosion, I wonder? And has this ever happened before with the washer-dryer dealers at the base of the building? I don't know. But I would definitely be interested to hear the conclusion to this mystery disaster. It all kinda makes you wonder about your neighbour doesn't it? I mean, most of us live in small-ish places, attached to a bunch of other individuals and/or families in similar smallish spaces and hardly any of us can really claim to Know one another. Sad...maybe. An indication of the Times, for sure. But I think that waht it really all comes down to is human relations & whether we really know enough (or anything at all for that matter) about our neighbours. Peace.
Dawn Manhertz	{18 votes}	February 4th, 2006
Was in the area...     I was actually in the area that night that the fire was burning. I was going out to dinner at a restaurant on Laurier ave , and noticed that they had blcoked Parc Ave from any type of traffic. I thought a water main had broke (since I guess it was still early in the evening to catch the dramatics of it all). However, the one thing that i did note was the closeness of the passer-bys...they all seemed like family grasping each other and looking down the avenue. I'm sorry to hear about so many homes lost, and can't even begin to imagine the pain people are going through.
Meghna Patel	{12 votes}	February 3rd, 2006
Building Disappears.........     That's a horrible picture of Parc Ave. after the explosion Jan 25th, 2006. I am wondering if there has been a bank account set-up for the victims of the tragedy? Sometimes, this is done so that people across Canada can deposit funds in a trust/victims account to help them rebuild, seeing as most didn't have insurance. Our prayers are with you. I hope they findout how it happened and if there was any suspected foul play.
Steve Landry	{10 votes}	February 2nd, 2006

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