56-year-old woman dies in fire in Frelighsburg

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A house was devastated by an explosion.

Radio-Canada

A 56-year-old woman died and a man in his 50s was injured in a fire caused by an explosion on Friday in Frelighsburg.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) indicates that a violent explosion caused the fire in a residence at Camping des Chutes Hunter, on Chemin des Chutes.

Firefighters were on site since 11:45 a.m. to put out the blaze.

Neighboring residences were also blown away by the explosion. Damage was noted around the residence. We are talking about an important event for the Frelighsburg region.

A quote from Louis-Philippe Ruel, information officer for the Sûreté du Québec

Emergency services were searching during the afternoon for a resident who was missing. The firefighters discovered, shortly after 4 p.m., the inanimate body of the person who was missing, in the rubble of the fire, said Ève Brochu-Joubert, spokesperson for the SQ. , at the start of the evening. This woman was a resident of the damaged home.

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Many firefighters moved to fight the blaze.

A fifty-year-old was also seriously injured and transferred to the hospital center. There is no fear for his life.

The explosion shook the surrounding residences.

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In a Facebook group, several people from the Frelighsburg community said they heard a very loud explosion noise. This photo was shared by someone living in the area.

I heard a big boom. In my small house, the frames even fell to the floor. I went outside. I got closer to see if there was anything we could do. There was a gentleman on the ground. He was pulled out from near the house, which was on fire. We called the ambulance, they came to pick him up, and the firefighters arrived, says Gaëtan Blackburn, who has been a permanent resident of the campsite for 20 years.

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Gaëtan Blackburn lives very close to the house that burned down.

When I left the house, there were things everywhere. It all blew up. Afterwards, it was a black cloud, but above all it was the man who shouted that we absolutely had to get out of there.

A quote from Gaëtan Blackburn, a neighbor

I was at city hall 3 miles from here, and I was in a meeting, but I heard the firefighters leaving. This is something we pay attention to in a small community like ours. On the other hand, I did not hear the sound of an explosion. Subsequently, I was told that the explosion was strongly felt, I don't understand why we didn't feel it, adds the mayor of the municipality, Lucie Dagenais.

The fire chief told me that they worked on dousing the exterior propane tank to make sure the tank itself didn't explode. The firefighters acted quickly, she continues.

This is the second major fire to hit the campsite this year. In the spring, two people died in a fire in a trailer.

This community is really tested, I think that goes without saying.

A quote from Lucie Dagenais, mayor of Frelighsburg

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Lucie Dagenais is the mayor of Frelighsburg.

The causes of the fire remain undetermined. On the other hand, there does not appear to be any criminal element in this case. It would be a purely accidental event, specifies the information agent for the Sûreté du Québec, Louis-Philippe Ruel.

There will be an investigation carried out. We assume that it is something related to propane, but not the external tank, rather to the use of a device. But that remains to be confirmed, believes Lucie Dagenais.

Here, on these places, we are in the process of reviewing the propane installations on the land campsites and storage conditions, she adds.

She also highlights the work of firefighters and the support of municipal teams neighbors.

With information from Zoé Bellehumour