The following interview between Arnaud Cote and CTV Montreal reporter Maya Johnson is translated from French.
How long were you living at the residence?
I lived there for seven years.
What did you like about the place?
It was clean, it was a very clean house. The floors were waxed and there was someone who worked there just for that.
You made friends.
Sure we all knew each other⊠we continued to be friends.
You donât have family here?
No, no brothers or sisters, ⊠I have the wife of a cousin who died. There are 30 who died (in the fire), they say.
And your wife?
My wife died 10 years ago.
What do you remember from that night?
Nothing unusual. I was watching âLa poule aux oefs dâorâ (a TV show) and other shows. It finished at about 10:30. I went to wash and sleep. It was about 10:45, 10:50, but I didnât fall asleep right away and 11:1 5 the alarm rang. I thought, âWhatâs happening?â I went out and didnât see any fire. I smelled a little smell of smoke but I didnât see it. But as I walked down the hallway then I saw the smoke and Bruno Belanger came and opened the door for Madame Irene. I wondered how he got through the thick smoke on the other side. He was out of breath.
Did you knock on doors?
Yes I knocked on doors -- the lady across from me woke from the alarm. She asked, âWhatâs happening?â I said, âI donât know, Iâm going to go see. Thereâs smoke.â Then I came back and said, âLetâs get out.â
She woke up the two others who were sleeping. They were tough to wake up. We said, âGet dressed as warm as possible, itâs cold out.â We took the emergency exit. When we were halfway down we saw the firefighters right in front of us.
Were you scared?
No, I didnât think about it. I never thought about it. I never thought Iâd be in a fire like that, escaping with women and the men, the firefighters. We went above the garage for some time and then they transferred us to the school.
You are lucky, of course.
Yes.
But itâs hard to think of the others?
You donât think right away, you donât realize what could happen. We had a chance to get out.
It must be hard to look at it now?
Yes. The building that was there is gone.
What emotions do you feel?
I feel it sometimes, those emotions.
Because you had a lot of friends...
They were all friends, we all knew each other. Weâd play bingo. There were activities every afternoon, the organizers were supposed to be at the table.
Did you have a chance to get your stuff?
I took the little light and the slippers but couldnât save my clothes.
So did you have the chance to�
I didnât have time to put my boots on. I kept my slippers on. My feet were cold.
And what will you do now?
Iâm staying here for three days and then going to my new apartment.
You found something?
Yes.
So you called your niece?
I called her right away when I went to sleep at a friendâs place. I didnât have my own phone so I called one of my sisters to tell her what state Iâm in so she wouldnât see it the next day on TV and ask, âWhere is he?â So I alerted her.
So you lost everything?
Yes. Like I just showed you.
So you appreciate your family in those circumstances?
Yes, and friends. When friends saw what happened, they came to look for me. I slept at my friendâs place and the next day I went to the Moisson dâor school and they adopted me for three days here and bought me clothing.