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Police have announced that at least 21 residents of a care home in L’Isle-Verte, Quebec died in this tragic fire. 11 other residents are not yet accounted for (0900 hrs GMT 31 Jan). Photographs of the fire scene show that the original building has been completely destroyed with only a lift shaft standing.  However a modern extension which was sprinkler protected was unaffected by the fire. The link will take you to the photos on an external website. See particularly photo 5.

Current building codes in Quebec do not require the installation of sprinklers in existing care homes.

Quebec Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity Agnès Maltais told reporters on Thursday the government planned to consider incorporating sprinklers into new rules in the future.
“We believe [seniors] are well-protected but we always have to tighten the rules each time we see there’s a failure somewhere,” she said.
“We’re waiting for the result of the inquiry… to understand where the failure is.”

 

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