[PHOTOS] A building under construction ravaged by a major fire in Longueuil

A violent fire ravaged a building under construction and damaged two houses in Longueuil, on the South Shore of Montreal, overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.

The fire broke out around 2:45 a.m. in the building on Quinn Boulevard, near Sainte-Foy Boulevard, the Longueuil agglomeration police department said.

Under the effect of the violence of the flames, the building caught fire quickly before collapsing, according to the Fire Safety Service of the agglomeration of Longueuil.

The Longueuil firefighters, assisted by their colleagues from Varennes and La Prairie, tried to contain the flames which spread to the two adjoining buildings, one of which is under construction and the other inhabited.

Residents of the heavily damaged building were evacuated as a precaution, but no one was injured, it was said.

The cause of the fire remains unknown for the moment, but given the extent of the blaze, it is not excluded that the investigation will be transferred to the police.