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Local fire chief testifies at coroner’s inquest

Nov. 25, 2014, Riviere-du-Loup, Que. - The fire chief in the Quebec town of L'Isle-Verte is defending his decisions and his team's work in fighting a blaze at a seniors' home last January that killed 32 people.

Yvan Charron appeared before a coroner's inquest today into the tragedy.

Charron says he called in reinforcements after arriving at the Residence du Havre – or 19 minutes after the first distress call – because that's the way things were done in L'Isle-Verte.

He said he was expecting to find the building's residents outside when he arrived, even though a 911 dispatcher had already told him they were locked in and couldn't see anything because of thick smoke.

The testimony at coroner Cyrille Delage's inquest is expected to end Wednesday.

November 25, 2014 
By The Canadian Press