Saturday, January 25, 2014

POSSIBLE CIGARETTE IN ROOM STARTED THE QUEBEC SENIOR FIRE- 8 DEAD-24 STLL MISSING AS THE RECOVERY CONTINUES

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.

ITS SAID BY THE CBC THAT A CIGERETTE FROM ONE OF THE TENNANTS SMOKING IN THEIR ROOM STARTED THE FIRE.BUT QUEBEC OFFICIALS HAVE NOT CONFIRMED IT YET.THE WORKERS ARE STILL TRYING TO RECOVER THE BODIES IN THE FREEZING COLD-COLLAPSED-ICE PACKED DISASTER.THIS IS DAY 3 OF THE RECOVERY NOW.THERE IS A CHURCH SERVICE TOMORROW FOR THE LOST AT THE CHURCH JUST BESIDE WERE THE FIRE OCCURRED.AND THE PREIST SAID PEOPLE SHOULD COME TO GATHER TOGETHER TO GREIVE THERE ANY TIME. 8 ARE CONFIRMED DEAD AND NOW THERE SAYING 24 OF THE 32 IS STILL MISSING.

I'M NOT SURE WHY THEY HAVE TO BOIL THEIR WATER FOR 5 MINUTES IN THIS TOWN.IS THERE TO MUCH WATER BEING PUMPED ON THE FIRE OR WAS THERE SOME KIND OF POISONING THAT OCCURRED.I HAVE NOT HEARD MUCH ON THIS-SO I DON'T KNOW.BUT I HAVE HEARD THEY ARE HAVING TO BOIL THEIR WATER FOR 5 MINUTES OR DRINK BOTTLED WATER.I GOTTA TRY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE WATER SITUATION.

STORIES FROM THE 2 PAST DAYS
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/5-confirmed-dead-30-still-looking-for.html 
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/possible-33-dead-in-montreal-senoirs.html   

Three rotating teams that are on site for 45 minutes at a time are using steam to melt the ice, to free the remains of fire victims while preserving their integrity.Lapointe explained the persisting “intense cold” made operations more difficult.The teams are made up of police, forensic technicians, firefighters and coroner’s personnel.Because of the large quantities of water used to put out the fire and now for steam, acting Mayor Ginette Caron said the water level in the village reservoir, supplied by artesian wells, is low and a boil-water advisory has been imposed.

L'ISLE-VERTE SENIORS RESIDENCE HAD FIRE-CODE VIOLATIONS IN 2011
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Isle+Verte+seniors+residence+fire+code+violations/9422047/story.html

Red Cross seeking funds to help L'Isle-Verte survivors

The Red Cross has launched a campaign to raise funds for the 20 survivors of the L'Isle-Vert tragedy.
The initial goal is to raise $50,000.Red Cross volunteers have been in the community since yesterday.They are assessing needs which at the moment include clothing, accommodations, food and personal needs such as eyeglasses, dentures and hearing aids.
www.croixrouge.ca

32 presumed dead in Quebec fire, 8 confirmed

The Associated PressJanuary 24, 2014 Updated 10 minutes ago-centredaily.com
— The painstaking search through the iced-over remains of a burned-out Quebec retirement home resumed Saturday morning, with friends and relatives of the missing awaiting news. Just eight bodies of the 32 presumed dead have been recovered.A massive blaze swept through the three-story building in L'Isle-Verte, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northeast of Quebec City early Thursday. Quebec Provincial Police Lt. Guy Lapointe at a Saturday news conference lowered the number of missing from about 30 to 24 based on more detailed information.Officials have formally identified two of the victims, with their names to be released later Saturday."The 24 people that are still missing, I think we can assume the worst. We're not going to confirm any deaths until we've actually recovered the remains," Lapointe said.The cause of the massive blaze that swept through the Residence du Havre was under investigation, and police asked the public for any videos or photos that might yield clues. Lapointe declined to confirm reports that the fire began in the room of a resident who was smoking a cigarette, but said that is one possibility.Search teams of police, firefighters and coroners slowly and methodically picked their way through the ruins, working in shifts in the extreme cold with temperatures hovering around minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Celsius) Friday.As crews used steam to melt thick sheets of ice coating the rubble, Marc-Henri Saindon waited for his mother's body to be recovered. Marie-Jeanne Gagnon, five months shy of her 100th birthday, had moved to the home on New Year's Eve, her son said."She really liked it there. She was well treated and she had friends there," Saindon said Friday.Spray from firefighters' hoses left the home resembling a macabre snow palace, the ruins encased in thick white ice dripping with icicles. Workers took a break over night because of the freezing cold.The tragedy cast such a pall over the village of 1,500 that psychologists were sent door to door."This is a horrible tragedy," Mayor Ursule Theriault said.Witnesses told horrific tales of people trapped and killed by the flames. Many of the 50 or so residents were over 85 and used wheelchairs or walkers. Some had Alzheimer's.Pascal Fillion, who lives nearby, said he saw someone use a ladder to try to rescue a man cornered on his third-floor balcony. The man was crying out for help before he fell to the ground, engulfed in flames, Fillion said."I lost my friends," said Nicole Belanger, who worked at the home part-time for the past four years. "The residents loved us and we loved them."Quebec Minister of Social Services Veronique Hivon said many of the village's volunteer firefighters had relatives at the retirement home."People are in a state of shock," she said. "We want them to know the services are there by going door to door. It's an important building that's a part of their community that just disappeared."Hivon said the home was up to code and had a proper evacuation plan. A Quebec Health Department document indicates the home which has operated since 1997, had only a partial sprinkler system. The home expanded around 2002, and the sprinklers in the new part of the building triggered the alarm.The owners of the residence made a public statement Friday for the first time since the fire, offering their condolences to victims' families.
Roch Bernier and Irene Plante thanked firefighters, volunteers and the residence's employees and said they are co-operating fully with authorities.Father Gilles Frigon, the town's Catholic priest, said he would hold a private Mass for the families of the victims on Sunday and said next Saturday a public memorial with politicians and dignitaries will take place.The fire came six months after 47 people were killed in the small town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, when a train carrying oil derailed and exploded.In 1969, a nursing home fire in the community of Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Quebec, claimed 54 lives.Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/01/24/4000554/30-missing-after-quebec-senior.html#storylink=cpy

L'Isle-Verte seniors' home fire started in resident's room

The fire that destroyed a L'Isle-Verte, Que., seniors' home and killed at least eight people started in a resident's room, sources have told Radio-Canada.According to the police source, one of the residents asked an employee for permission to go outside to smoke a cigarette. The employee reportedly refused. The fire began shortly thereafter.The resident's balcony door was open upon the arrival of firefighters, the source said.CBC and Radio-Canada have confirmed the deaths of three people with their family members:
Marie-Jeanne Saindon, 99.
Audette Dubé, 82.
Joseph (Jo) Malenfant, 90.
Saindon was just five months shy of her 100th birthday. Her son, Marc Saindon, identified her by her maiden name, Gagnon, but the small community of L'Isle-Verte knew her as Madame Saindon. Lt. Guy Lapointe of the provincial police force said the extreme cold presents a big challenge to workers trying to comb through the scene."People worked very hard today … It's very difficult work," Lapointe said, adding search efforts would be put on hold at 7 p.m. ET Friday and would resume at 7 a.m. ET Saturday.The number of missing, which had been set at 30, has not been changed by officials.Lapointe said they may bring in special equipment that produces vapour to melt the ice on the site of the fire.Quebec coroner Geneviève Guilbault said identification work is being done to confirm the remains search crews have discovered so far in the rubble of the seniors' home in the rural Quebec town, about 28 kilometres northeast of Rivière-du-Loup.
Roch Bernier and Irene Plante, who have owned the residence since 1999, said they may not rebuild in the aftermath of the tragedy.. They issued a statement late Friday afternoon extending their sincere condolences to the victims' families. "Although they loved their job, their residents and their employees, Mr. Bernier and Ms. Plante would like to mention that it is still too early to say if they have or not to rebuild the residence Le Havre," the release said.They said they wanted to focus their energies on relocating and assuring the well-being of the displaced residents for the time being.The seniors' residence that burned down in L'Isle-Verte was in line with security regulations, Quebec's minister for social services says as the search for the missing continues. "We don't know what happened," VéroniqueHivon told reporters on Friday morning.
​Hivon said the most recent safety drill at the residence was carried out in under eight minutes.The older part of the Résidence du Havre was built in 1997, and had no sprinkler system, although a newer wing built in 2002 was equipped with sprinklers. Hivon said the government must do "everything possible to make sure that ... such tragedies don't happen again."Police are not speculating on what may have caused the fire.  Quebec provincial police Lt. Guy Lapointe said investigators have not ruled out anything yet.As the search for the missing continues, Lapointe said many members of the emergency crews are suffering from loss as well. "We will not give up," he said.

He said police officers and firefighters worked overnight to bring the fire under control. Workers are dealing with extreme cold and a thick coating of ice over the rubble. Lapointe said as crews search through the building's remains, they are using steam to melt the ice. He said the steam will help ensure the scene isn't damaged. The tragedy has been designated as a Fourth Level response, meaning that local officials, the Quebec coroners’ office and the Quebec forensic laboratory are involved in the operation. Police are reminding members of the public to stay outside marked-off perimeters. There is a red zone set up around the remaining rubble, and police are asking the public not to go inside that zone.A total of 52 people were listed as living in the building, but provincial police are still trying to pin down how many of them were inside at the time of the fire. As the close-knit town of 1,500 people wait for news of their loved ones, a memorial service has been planned for Sunday. The mass will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Church of St-Jean-Baptiste-de-l'Isle-Verte.Priest Gilles Frigon said the service will be open to everyone. Several guests have been invited to come and speak, including a representative for the firefighters and MNA Jean D'Amour.The Red Cross launched a collection for donations, asking the public to give to those affected by the tragedy.

The fund will be used to help victims' families and evacuees pay for essential needs.According to the Red Cross, there is a need for at least $50,000 in donations. By Friday afternoon, three companies in Quebec had donated a combined $50,000.Volunteers with the Red Cross have been on the scene since 3 a.m. Thursday, meeting with survivors. Financial donations are expected to cover the cost of housing, clothing and food, but the Red Cross says there is also a need for dentures, hearing aids, mobility aids and glasses.
To make a donation, click here.

A look inside Montreal’s biggest water reservoir

Sitting empty for decades, city plans to spend millions putting it back into service

ALLTIME