Eleanore Dore and four other residents at the Chateau Dollard were left stranded on the second floor for four hours on Wednesday evening.
The Chateau Dollard was one of the thousands of buildings left in the dark after the violent storm.
READ MORE: Violent summer storm leaves thousands in the dark
Dore, who is wheelchair bound, was on the second storey, eating supper in the dining hall when the power went out, leaving the building’s elevator unusable.
“The power went out and we were upstairs — nobody could bring us downstairs,” Dore said.
Dore says the only staff available to help the residents were kitchen staff and nurses who physically could not bring them down the stairs.
Dore called her daughter Maureen for help after she said the staff left them.
“Wednesday was an exceptional circumstance because of the power outage,” Chateau Dollard manager Gina Luci said.
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Maureen Dore called the local Dollard des Ormeaux fire station for assistance. She said that the fire department told her it was not their job.
“The fire department dispatcher says, ‘Its not my job.’ … Pretty sure it is your job,” Maureen said.
The Montreal Fire Department told Global News that firefighters normally respond to calls of this nature.
However, Wednesday’s storm caused such an influx of calls that they had to be prioritized.
“I am more mad at the fire department because it is their job to help people,” Maureen said.
Maureen’s husband and one other member of the Dore family who came from the South Shore, decided to bring the residents down the flight of stairs by hand.
“My husband and Dan carried five people down the stairs, literally down the stairs in their wheelchairs,” Maureen said.
For the safety of the residents, Luci said, “We did all we could do. We offered them accommodation on the second floor.”
An emergency generator-run elevator is now something the residence is considering after Wednesday’s incident.