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Supreme Court won’t hear appeal from city in Quebec that failed to stop 2012 fire

April 27, 2023, Ottawa – A city in Quebec has exhausted its legal avenues to avoid paying thousands of dollars in damages after it failed to deploy enough firefighters to prevent a fire from ravaging a building.

Canada’s highest court says it won’t hear an appeal from the City of Trois-Rivieres, Que., which had sought to have a lower court decision overturned.

A June 2012 fire destroyed a building belonging to a snow-clearing company, Deneigement F.L.

The city was supposed to deploy 10 firefighters within 10 minutes, but only six responded to the fire.

It was claimed in court that Quebec’s fire safety law granted the city immunity, an argument that was rejected by the Quebec Superior Court and on appeal.

Trois-Rivieres will have to pay the business, its owner and an insurance company almost $145,600 – a quarter of the costs incurred in the fire.