Fire in Montreal forces closure of Jacques-Cartier Bridge

A fire burning in a vacant historic building in Montreal has forced the closure of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge on Wednesday.

The bridge has been fully closed since 6:15 a.m., causing a backlog on the city’s South Shore ahead of the morning rush hour.

Martin Guilbault, an operations chief with the Montreal fire department, said it’s unclear when the bridge will be reopened to traffic. He said a fire truck stationed on the bridge is being used to put out the flames.

While the span itself is not affected, authorities are also concerned the industrial building at 1600 De Lorimier Ave. could collapse.

WATCH | More than 100 firefighters were at the scene:

Fire near Jacques-Cartier Bridge forces its closure during morning rush hour

Over 100 firefighters are working to put out the blaze in an abandoned building on De Lormier Avenue. The bridge itself is not affected, but smoke from the nearby fire is heavy.

Guilbault said firefighters have been unable to enter to the building given the safety risk and have been in “defensive mode since last night.”

At its peak, some 120 firefighters were battling the four-alarm fire, which started at around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday on the first floor. He said the cause of the fire is yet to be determined and it’s not known if anyone was inside.

Historic building

The building, which was constructed in 1910, had been vacant for several years, according to the Montreal fire department.

The first occupant was Joseph Barsalou, a pioneering businessman and soap manufacturer. It changed hands in 1935, when it was bought by Procter and Gamble, and again in 1943 after Familex, a pharmaceutical company owned by Roméo Parent, purchased it and held on to it for 40 years.

Héritage Montréal says the building “is best known for the curve in the design it forced on the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.”

When the bridge was planned, business at the soap factory was booming, and the family refused to sell the property to the corporation responsible for the construction of the bridge, making the curve necessary to bypass the building.

WATCH | The history of the soap company:

An unlikely success in a soap company

Joseph Barsalou broke into the anglo-centric business world in Montreal and found great success with his soap company.

Dinu Bumbaru, policy director of Héritage Montréal, says there have been recent discussions between the Ville-Marie borough and developers to create a project that would integrate the heritage building in the new Quartier des lumières neighbourhood.

Slated for redevelopment

Property records show the building is linked to the Bertone Development Corporation, a real-estate development company, with family members Claudio and Michele Bertone listed as beneficiaries.

Plans on the Bertone website say the project would “reinvent the entrance to the city, proposing to complement the iconic experience of the infrastructure by creating a new signature perspective.”

In March 2025, the federal government announced it was investing more than $278 million to build 764 rental units in Montreal through the Apartment Construction Loan Program.

Of that money, $108 million was slated for the construction of 304 units at 1600 De Lorimier, the site of the fire.

Vacant buildings in Montreal have been site to a number of fires in Montreal in recent years. Data obtained by CBC News showed that 11 of the 80 serious fires (between three- and five-alarm) in greater Montreal, between 2020 and the end of 2023, were in vacant buildings.