Staff member comes to aid of fire victims near Loyola

By Marc Losier

When Sébastien Bruyère came to work on the night of March 31, the shift started out like any other. Three hours later, Bruyère, that night’s security supervisor for the Loyola campus, was playing host to more than 500 evacuees from a nearby apartment fire, providing shelter, coffee, water and juice while firefighters battled the smoke and flames.

The episode started late in the evening when a small apartment building less than a block from the campus caught fire. When the smoke headed for the 18-storey apartment building next door, it became clear that it would have to be evacuated, too. Bruyère contacted the fire department at 1 a.m. and offered the empty rooms at Concordia.

“It’s the goal of the university to help people around us, so that’s why I offered it,” he said.

By 1:30, the fire department had accepted the offer and asked the security staff to get ready.

Bruyère and the rest of his six-man security team quickly put together a plan and mobilized to take in the evacuees. They roused cafeteria manager Talal Bissar, who, according to Bruyère, was “sleeping well at home,” to come in and provide refreshments.

Then, with the help of the three cleaners on duty and two of the students from residence, they prepared the cafeteria, auditorium, library and The Hive, a student hangout, bringing in tables and chairs to keep people comfortable.

An ambulance was summoned to the scene as a precaution against injuries but fortunately nobody was hurt with the exception of one firefighter who sustained minor injuries.

Four hours later the drama was over, when the fire department granted the residents of the larger building permission to return home. The residents of the smaller building were placed in the care of the city. By 6:30 the staff were cleaning up after the eventful morning.

Jean Brisebois, Director of Concordia’s Security Department, commended Bruyère and his crew for their professionalism and teamwork, praising them for stepping up to help the community.

“It was an exciting night at work,” Bruyère said. There were a lot of thank-yous from the evacuees themselves, and even though it was intense it made for a rewarding shift.