(Quebec and Montreal) Dozens of customers of the Château Frontenac were evacuated early Tuesday morning when a fire broke out at 14e floor of the legendary establishment.
“Around 5 a.m., I started hearing fire trucks arriving, then around 5:30 a.m. the sirens went off in the rooms,” said a client from the Laurentians, Dany Thieman, met around 7 a.m. at the foot of the Château, wrapped up in her dressing gown.
The fire in a technical room required a large deployment. Firefighters received a call around 4:50 a.m. The fire was under control around 6 a.m. “The damage was mainly caused by water,” explained a spokesperson for the Quebec City Fire Department, Bill Noonan. The firefighters reported no injuries.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
All guests of the Fairmont hotel have been evacuated. On Tuesday morning, they were walking around the grounds of the hotel. A couple from Colorado explained that this was their second misadventure on Quebec soil: their VIA Rail train had been cancelled because of the earthquake on Sunday.
Guests were served coffee and pastries. “My partner and I were thinking that on Tuesday morning, we should try the hotel breakfast. Well, we did,” said M, slightly amused.me Thieman.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, as has the extent of the damage. The flames are not believed to have spread outside the technical room where they started.