LA MALBAIE | Still greatly saddened and shaken, the two citizens whose rescue cost the lives of two firefighters in Saint-Urbain recounted, at the opening of the coroner’s public inquest on Monday, the “hell” they experienced. lived that day.
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“It was rising visibly, it was crazy. I had never seen that,” said Linda Simard, in a very emotional testimony. “We went through hell.”
She and her partner, Yvan Lavoie, had moved into a renovated chalet by the river, on Rang Saint-Georges, which was to be their little corner of paradise.
Although they knew they were in a flood zone, nothing suggested a danger of such significant flooding, according to their discussions with the former owners and their own knowledge of the area, they say.
Helpless
But the 1er May 2023, the situation evolved quickly and they found themselves trapped in the heart of the raging current to the point of uprooting trees.
And it was while being helpless that they watched, for many minutes, the two firefighters aboard an Argo amphibious vehicle drift towards the Route 138 bridge where they disappeared into the river.
Yvan Lavoie and his wife, Linda Simard.
Photo Dominique Lelièvre
“[J]”I was in panic, I said to myself: ‘pull them a rope, do what, do what’, because I knew they were leaving, but we felt helpless,” testified Mme Simard.
The couple, who are clearly still haunted by the tragedy, were finally rescued by a Sûreté du Québec helicopter a few hours later.
“We were resigned to dying. We were sure to leave,” the lady mentioned.
According to her, in no case did they receive an evacuation order from the Municipality although we inquired about their situation around noon.
Vibrant tribute
Coroner Andrée Kronström began her work at the start of the day, at the La Malbaie courthouse.
For 10 days until mid-May, around thirty witnesses will be heard to shed light on the tragic deaths of Christopher Lavoie, 23, and Régis Lavoie, 55.
The start of the hearings was also an opportunity for Marylou Lavoie to pay vibrant tribute to her father, Régis, a generous, friendly and hard-working man who was, among other things, a security agent in hospitals, in addition to being a volunteer firefighter since over 20 years old.
“He was truly a great man. He would have done everything for everyone,” she said.
Emergency calls
The morning was marked by listening to calls made to emergency services by various citizens and responders who left no doubt about the seriousness of the event in the moments following the tragedy.
This is the case of the director general of the municipality of Saint-Urbain, Martin Guérin, who called 911 as soon as he learned that two firefighters had fallen into the raging waters of the Gouffre River, at 1:52 p.m.er May 2023.
“I have two firefighters who were on intervention for a rescue. The boat capsized and the two firefighters were missing. [Ils] are currently in the Gouffre River and we are not able to locate them,” we can hear him say, while he is in conversation with a dispatcher from the Baie-Saint-Paul fire department.
Like reliving a nightmare
- “I was sad because we asked for help and if I had known it would turn out like this, well I would have stayed with Linda [sa conjointe, NDLR] and we would have let ourselves drift with the house. I [ne] never thought that two firefighters were going to die coming to help us.” –Yvan Lavoie, one of the surviving citizens
- “I have just passed in front of the Rivière du Gouffre. I’m sure I saw someone going through the river!” –A citizen, Johny Guérin, who was passing by route 138 and called the emergency services
- “What drives me and what will drive everyone here is the quest for truth. There were things that were said. Was it true? There, we put that aside and we will hear the witnesses who will come under oath and we will be able to understand what really happened. –Andrée Kronström, coroner
- “Behind the house of the people we evacuated, there was a strong flow of water. We saw several objects passing by at a speed that we estimated, using the helicopter, to be around 10 knots. Large 80 foot trees that could pass […] we could see that the river was really overloaded in terms of water.” –Vincent Arsenault, SQ search and rescue agent