Boisbriand, Quebec, August 16, 2006 --Fire erupted Tuesday at Polyval Coating Inc., a floor coatings and paint factory 33 miles north of Montreal. The blaze forced the evacuation of 1,500 people, according to a report by Montreal Gazette's CanWest news service.
According to the report, Jean Larochelle was mixing chemicals when a fireball exploded from a large barrel nearby.
''I dropped to my hands and knees and crawled out of there as fast as I could,'' Larochelle said.
"As a preventive measure, police evacuated about 1,500 people, including 1,000 employees at neighbouring plants in the Boisbriand Industrial Park, and 500 residents living downwind from the black plume of smoke spiralling from the burning building.
"It took 100 firefighters from nine municipalities about five hours to bring the stubborn fire under control, said Boisbriand Fire Chief Christian Grand'Maison.
''It was a big fire - there were paints, solvents and oils all burning,'' he said. ''We don't know why it started.''
Firefighters also hosed down several chemical storage tanks on the property to keep them from catching fire.
"As a former firefighter, Larochelle said he knows he was lucky to escape with just a first-degree burn to his arm. ''I know I saved my life by getting out of there. I was very scared,'' he said.
"Larochelle refused to speculate on the cause of the blaze. He said the fire broke out just after noon as he was making lacquer. He said he poured a chemical into a barrel containing about 1,000 gallons of solvent when the explosion occurred.
"Federal and provincial environment officials were on the scene to test the air quality before allowing residents to return home.
"Pierre Robert of the provincial Environment Department, said he expected that all residents would be permitted to return home Tuesday night.
''We are just waiting for results of the air-quality test,'' he said."
