Notre-Dame de Paris fire: How safe are Montreal's heritage churches?

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Winnie Kirouac isn’t Catholic but on Tuesday she felt the need to attend mass at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica.

Hours after fire destroyed much of Notre-Dame de Paris Monday, hundreds gathered in the Montreal cathedral to commemorate what was lost in the blaze.

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“It was just so beautiful; we lost a world treasure,” said Kirouac, as tears streamed down her face. “I had to come here today to feel some kind of connection to it.”

Archbishop Christian Lépine said the tragedy afforded Montrealers a chance to be together and pray. He said what was lost wasn’t only the heritage of medieval architecture but also a centuries-old symbol of the country’s bond to the ideals of Christianity.

“It touches all of our hearts,” Lépine said. “We can thank God that no lives were lost in the fire. … It’s a building that survived two world wars, revolutions and all kind of historic events. To see it go down like this is a tragedy.”

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The Paris fire has raised questions about the protection of Montreal’s religious heritage buildings.

There are about 450 churches in Montreal that date back to the 1800s or earlier, according to the city’s fire department.

“These buildings were built before modern fire safety codes and we try to inspect as many as we can,” said Stéphane Corriveau, a division chief with Montreal’s fire department.

“Many of them are up to code now; many of them have been converted to condo buildings or concert halls and that means their fire safety plan is up to date as well.”

When there is a fire at a heritage building, the department tries to preserve the structure even as it must douse it with thousands of gallons of water.

“With a modern building, it’s often easier to destroy it and rebuild,” Corriveau said. “But you can’t do that with a piece of history. So we do our best.”

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Though there are special protocols in place for putting out fires in historic sites, the department doesn’t inspect the buildings any more than it would an office tower or modern apartment complex.

“I was saddened by the Paris fire; I visited the basilica myself some years ago. … But our first goal is always to preserve life,” Corriveau said.

Dinu Bumbaru says some churches in Montreal are especially vulnerable to arson, vandalism and the kinds of accidents that could result in a blaze.

“In the past few weeks we’ve seen three churches damaged by fire,” said Bumbaru, the policy director of Heritage Montreal. “The St-Eusèbe-de-Verceil church, St-Bernardin and one in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

“Unlike the churches in France, these are neo-Gothic buildings without the stonework that would protect a lot of the art and stained glass inside the building.”

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Bumbaru says churches that have been decommissioned or simply abandoned are vulnerable and the city has a “duty to get its house in order.”

There isn’t any reliable data on how many heritage buildings are at risk, according to Bumbaru.

Four years ago in Parc Extension, a blaze destroyed the Koimisis Tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church. In 2016, Montreal lost five heritage buildings — many of them that had been long abandoned — to fires.

The following year, the administration of Mayor Valérie Plante established an action plan on preserving heritage buildings. But Bumbaru says any concrete steps on the plan have since “stalled.”

“People cling to heritage sites because they see themselves in the buildings or at least feel that it’s a part of their history,” said Lucie Morriset, a Université de Québec à Montréal professor and one of Canada’s foremost experts on heritage buildings.

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“They see the building as a witness of history, a witness of our origins, as something that was there before we were born and that’ll be around long after we die. When we lose these buildings, we feel like we lose a piece of ourselves.”

The value of something like Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica, Morriset says, can be seen in the 11 million people who visit it every year.

Lépine says each church in Montreal’s diocese has a fire alarm that connects it to the department. Larger churches like Notre-Dame Basilica, St. Joseph’s Oratory and other cathedrals have 24-hour video surveillance.

In order to be insured, he says, churches must have up-to-date fire safety equipment.

“In Paris, we lost a building but we lost a symbol that brought people together, that brought them closer to God,” Lépine said. “It wasn’t a place for private devotion, for private prayer; it was a place for public prayer where people come together.”

ccurtis@postmedia.com

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