One of the most tragic fires in Montreal history was remembered Thursday with speeches, a minute of silence and the laying of flowers. A ceremony marked the 50th anniversary of the fire at the Wagon Wheel bar above the Blue Bird Café on Union Street that killed 37 people.
Patrons were trapped inside when three men deliberately set the bar ablaze on Sept. 1, 1972, a Friday night of the Labour Day weekend. The individuals doused the entrance with gasoline and started the fire because they had been denied entry by a doorman. All three were caught and sentenced to life in prison on charges of murder and manslaughter but have since been released on parole.
“I hope they wake up every morning remembering what they did,” Heather Allen, whose brother died in the fire, told Global News.
READ MORE: Montreal to honour the victims in the Blue Bird Café fire
The names of all 37 victims are now etched in a memorial wall at Phillips Square, one block from where the fire happened.
Don Bedard was in a band performing with other members that night. He remembers the flames ripping through the bar.
He says two of the emergency exits were blocked and someone broke down one of the doors allowing him to escape but the drummer of his band, Eddy Crevier, died.
“We couldn’t find him, so we found after that the drummer died,” Bedard told Global News.
André Mainville was one of the first police officers to respond to the fire. He said he used his coat to try to put out flames on people who were burning.
“They were on fire,” he told Global News.
Dr. Ken Flegel, an ER physician who worked at the Royal Victoria Hospital at the time, remembers treating patients as ambulances arrived.
“I could smell smoke, and there was blood and glass and soot all over the place within minutes because everybody was just covered,” Flegel said.
The people who lost loved ones and friends say it’s a night they will never forget.
“We can’t forget 37 angels. We can’t. I can’t,” said Heather Lowengren, who stopped short of going inside the bar that night when she smelled gasoline.
The fire, one of the deadliest in the city’s history, has since led to changes in safety codes and regulations for bars and restaurants in Montreal.
Comments