Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has paid tribute to the two Quebec firefighters who died during a rescue operation as heavy flooding hit parts of the province.
Quebec provincial police found two bodies Wednesday in the same river in the Charlevoix region where the two men went missing earlier in the week. The coroner made the formal identification Friday to say firefighters Christopher Lavoie, 23, and Régis Lavoie, 55, were those found dead in the river.
“My heart breaks for the family and friends of Christopher Lavoie and Régis Lavoie, both of whom have now been found,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
“As volunteer firefighters, they stepped up to help keep others safe — we’ll never forget the sacrifice they made.”
The pair were swept away when attempting to rescue two residents from rising floodwaters in St-Urbain, Que., north of Quebec City, on Monday afternoon.
An extensive search operation was launched, with aerial and nautical teams canvassing the area while police officers took to searching the ground and riverbanks on foot and by vehicle.
The discovery of the first body was made by a police helicopter around 10 a.m. Wednesday. A few hours later, a second body was found about 500 metres away by search teams around 1:30 p.m., according to police.
The City of Baie-Saint-Paul, which is just downriver from where the searchers recovered the bodies, has lowered its flags to half mast Thursday to honour the firefighters.
Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel took to social media to say his heart goes out to the two families who lost their loved ones.
“All of Quebec is thinking of you,” he said.
“Firefighters make an enormous sacrifice and I will always be grateful for the work they do with courage.”
Opposition parties in the province called for better training and support for firefighters. Parti Quebecois MNA Joël Arseneau told reporters Thursday that firefighters are ill-equipped more often than not in Quebec.
“They’re certainly courageous, they’re certainly enthusiastic, they want to give to the community, they want to save lives,” Arseneau said. “I don’t think their lives should be threatened. What happened this week is heart wrenching.”
This tragedy will hopefully “shed light to the needs of the people who save lives throughout Quebec and on a volunteer basis,” he added.
Liberal Party interim leader Marc Tanguay said his thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters’ families.
“I think that we need to improve all the processes in place and we need to provide them — they’re very courageous — but to provide them with way more support,” Tanguay said.
— with files from Global’s Gloria Henriquez and The Canadian Press
Comments