MONTREAL — Four Montreal fire fighters have good reason to be happy these days: they’ve just been recognized for stopping two armed robbers from holding up a Westmount pharmacy.
“We are a typical personality where we like the action, we have the adrenaline rush and don’t back down from any situation,” Lieutenant James McAllister said Friday.
McAllister and three other fireman were in their trucks on Sainte Catherine Street last November when they saw two heavily armed and masked men enter the pharmacy.
“As they got into the store, one of the robbers escorted one of the two kids out and then locked the door,” he explained.
“At that time we saw what looked like a real .45 caliber gun.”
That’s when the firefighters went into action.
“I sent Alex to go lock down the daycare, which is just west of the pharmacy. Martin went and locked down anybody coming south on Metcalfe and I stood in the front of intersection to make sure everything was locked down,” he said.
Within minutes, the intersection was closed to traffic and the police tactical squad moved on the scene.
“All of a sudden, two guys come running out of the side door on Metcalfe,” McAllister described.
“It bust open, they saw Martin and I and didn’t know where to go.”
One of the men ran along Sainte Catherine Street, right into the hands of two police officers; the other burglary suspect took off in the opposite direction.
“One of the police officers gave chase going east and I gave chase also,” McAllister said.
“I assisted in taking the gentleman down, holding him on the ground and handcuffing him with the other police officer.”
It wasn’t the first time the robbers held up a drug store, but this time, they didn’t get away with it.
“We were told that they’ve done the same type of robbery three or four times. They would go in for certain type of medications — but this time they didn’t get out. We were there.”
McAlliser said he has no interest in switching careers to become a police officer, but he wouldn’t hesitate to intervene again.
“Our main concern was the people on the second floor and people all around. As firefighters, our first concern is save lives and then property. We wanted to make sure everybody was safe.”
While this wasn’t a typical call of duty for firefighters, McAllister said he was proud of his team for extinguishing a very heated situation.
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