There was a four alarm fire in Ste. Anne Monday night. It caused heavy damage to a three-storey apartment block on St. Alphonse Street.

Fire Chief Ken Dayment says they got the call shortly after 11:00 and immediately called in help from the Tache, Richer and La Broquerie Fire Departments. He adds, "It's a three-storey walk-up building with about 12 suites in it. The fire started at the west end of it and went up and right through the roof. We managed to stop it but the roof is burned right off the building and the west end is burned pretty badly." Dayment says he doubts the building can be salvaged.

He adds everyone got out safely and there were no injuries. The cause is under investigation but Dayment notes it looks like the fire started in one of the suites.

Amber Dutiaume lives across the street from the complex. She noticed flickering lights while watching TV and quickly called 911. "It was just really scary and sad," she says. Dutiaume says several people came to her house overnight to warm up or call their parents and other family members. "It was horrible," she adds. They were sad, devastated and distraught, notes Dutiaume.

Dutiaume says she knows some of the people who lived in the complex, including the ones who rented the suite that received most of the damage on the west end. "It's sad cause they just bought new furniture apparently and they were just in the midst of getting their house insurance going this week," she says. "It's just really sad because they lost everything before they could actually get it done."

According to Dutiaume, there was also a woman who lost her cats in the fire. "She had a couple of cats and she couldn't get them out. So she is having a really hard time cause those are her babies I guess. It was just really sad."

Earl Toews is Pastor of Dayspring Fellowship Church in Ste.Anne. He found out about the fire while delivering newspapers at 6am Tuesday. "There's definitely an element of shock," he says. "You've got a minimum of eight families being displaced here, where are they going to go, what are they going to do. Their whole lives are being affected and everything they have is lost." But Toews says there is a rallying cry in the community. "We'll gather together and take care of them," he says.

The Church set up a clothing depot last year and Toews now invites anyone impacted by the blaze to swing by and pick up some gently used clothing. "It was actually a vision that a young mother had in our Church middle of last year to say you know what, we recognize there's a need in the community and there's low income people that just can't afford it." Toews adds it's amazing to be available during this time of need.

Toews says the devastation hits close to home. He notes a girl in their youth group has a Grandmother who lived in the complex. Toews says the Grandmother is distraught after losing everything including pictures of her deceased husband.

For more information on the clothing depot, call the Church at 422-8545 or stop in at 20 Finnigan Road. Or you can email dayspring@mymts.net.