Embers 'the size of baseballs' rained down in Montérégie fire

A man was taken to hospital with burns over 35 per cent of his body, after a fire broke out at a residential building in Saint-Pie.

Firefighters were called to the scene around 4 a.m. on Sunday in the town in the Montérégie region, about an hour east of Montreal.

The building's four apartments were evacuated. Officers with the Sûreté du Québec evacuated other homes in the vicinity of the fire.

"The good news is that most of [the residents] are able to go back to their homes slowly this morning," said Sgt. Daniel Thibaudeau, a spokesperson for the SQ.

He said one person was being treated for minor injuries that were not life threatening.

A building immediately to the right of the one where the fire broke out sustained damage to its exterior wall after the wind pushed the flames in that direction, Thibaudeau said.​

One of the residents, Jacques Desmarais, said his smoke alarm woke him up and he had only a few minutes to get out.

"We had just enough time to pick up a pair of pants and a shirt and leave," he said.

He said his apartment was completely destroyed and one of his vehicles also caught fire.

Cause still unknown

Firefighters in Saint-Pie asked for help from nearby communities, including Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Dominique and Saint-Damase.

Sylvain Daigneault, the Saint-Pie fire chief, said firefighters were dealing with embers "the size of baseballs."

"It was immense," he said.

Daigneault also said firefighters received information that explosions were heard.

​The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Thibaudeau said SQ investigators and arson technicians had been called to the scene.  

"We still have to go through the debris and talk to witnesses and see what actually transpired before we're able to confirm any hypothesis," he said.

The Red Cross was also helping residents and Hydro-Québec was on the scene early this morning.