L’Isle-Verte | 10 years after the fire that left 32 dead at the Le Havre residence, in L’Isle-Verte, one of the only two survivors still alive will never forget January 23, 2014, and even today, the sound of a fire alarm plunges her back into hell.
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That night, Colette Lafrance, 81, was sleeping peacefully in her room on the third floor, when the deafening siren of the fire alarm woke her up.
The flames were already engulfing her apartment, but the lady, pushed by an inexplicable force, managed to make her way to her balcony and jump onto a small roof located on the second floor of the building.
By a miracle, those close to him will say, Mme Colette escaped without any fractures or serious physical injuries, but with obvious psychological trauma.
Colette Lafrance, during her interview with our colleague, Catherine Pellerin, from TVA Nouvelles.
Photo Louis Deschenes
In an intimate encounter with The newspaper and our colleague from TVA Nouvelles, the wise lady admits that the months following the tragedy were difficult.
The fear
She says that one night, in her new residence at the time in Trois-Pistoles, the fire alarm sounded.
“The big alarm went off, I almost died, my heart went into fear,” she said. I went downstairs like crazy and then I said: that’s not true. It was still night, I said: so, are you going to end this?”
After this false alarm, Mme Lafrance confides that she was “no longer able to participate in fire exercises.”
Since then, facility managers have exempted him from mandatory evacuation drills to avoid making him relive the terrible tragedy.
Faith and hope
The L’Isle-Verte tragedy took the lives of 32 elderly people while 20 residents survived. According to our research, only Colette Lafrance and Conrad Morin are still alive.
Conrad Morin
Archive photo
“There are two left, I find it scary, I think about it quite often […] It’s been 10 years, there are several who have left,” says Mme Colette with her little voice which hides a lot of sadness.
She remembers that Mr. Morin is also a miracle worker. The former professional firefighter had to jump from the third floor and drag himself through the snow to save his life, but not before losing his partner of 68 years.
Mme Lafrance, who lives in a seniors’ residence in L’Isle-Verte, concludes the interview by confiding that it is faith and hope that keep her alive. “The hope that one day we will all be reunited.”
The first minutes of the tragedy on the night of January 23, 2014
Around 00:20, a fire broke out at the Le Havre residence on Isle-Verte in Bas-Saint-Laurent.
At the same time the call center contacted the night watchman of the residence Bruno Bélanger who confirmed the fire.
At 00:26, the volunteer firefighters received a pager message.
A few minutes later, Simon Lavoie who lives near the residence will be the first to arrive on the scene.
At 00:31, Isle-Verte fire chief Yvan Charron communicated with the 911 center
At 00:32, the general alert is transmitted
In total, the fire kills 32 and 20 residents survive
January 24: Night watchman Bruno Bélanger told our Bureau of Investigation that it was a smoking article that caused the fire