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Major fire tears through industrial building in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu

April 20, 2020, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. – A fire raged Sunday morning in an industrial building in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, in the Monteregie region, raising concerns about possible toxic fumes.

Danny Deragon, chief of operations of the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu fire department, said firefighters had to evacuate around 30 residences surrounding this “very large building where several carpets are stored.”

The Emergency-Environment mobile laboratory was dispatched to the site to assess water and air quality.

Several onlookers reported that they saw smoke plumes “visible from several kilometres away,” around 5:30 a.m. on Sunday. No one was inside the building.

By noon, some 60 firefighters were still putting out the blaze from outside the building, located on Saint-Louis Street.

Firefighters called for support from neighbouring municipalities while tending to the structure’s steel frame collapsing.

Deragon did not report any injuries shortly before noon.