Historic Montreal building Academie Ste-Anne gutted by fire

The building on Bouchard Blvd. was where the fire began, around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night. “It started on the second floor, but spread quickly to the roof,” said Karine Huard, a fire department section chief for Montreal. “When firefighters arrived, the fire was already well into the structure of the building.”

The call saw about 130 firefighters respond, many of which were still on site battling the blaze as of 8 a.m. this morning. Huard said the fire has yet to be brought under control and firefighters will likely remain on the scene for most of the day.

A significant amount of damage has been to the building but fortunately, no one was hurt in the fire.

The historic building was initially built as a clubhouse for the Royal Montreal Golf Club around the end of the 19th century. After that it served as the home of Queen of Angels Academy from 1959 before the school closed down in 2014.

In 2015, the building underwent renovations and reopened as Academie Ste-Anne.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, however Huard said that fire department investigators are currently on the scene to see if any foul play is suspected.