L'Isle-Verte seniors' home fire leaves 3 dead, 30 missing

"Strutz" said
How completely awful.

I do hope that some of the 30 unaccounted for people were not there at the time.

Matt Gurney: Quebec, where 30 people burning to death is no reason to rush

The government of Quebec will not rush to install sprinklers into senior care homes, Premier Pauline Marois said on Sunday. Having visited the small town of L’Isle Verte, where as many as 30 largely immobile seniors are believed to have died in a fire in their care facility last week, the Premier said she understands the desire for immediate action. But she also said that her government would hold off until a full report on the disaster is available.

Why? Quebec doesn’t need a full report, just a modicum of common sense. There are a lot of things that an investigation will eventually tell us, but in the meantime, accelerating the installation of sprinkler systems into residential care facilities is a damned good place to start.

And it shouldn’t have taken this latest hellish fire for Quebec to realize this. I figured it out for myself years ago. As a recent graduate, I was supporting myself — barely — through freelance writing. To help pay the bills, I would travel to elder care residences across southern Ontario and put on seminars about history or current events. This meant that I spent a lot of time in care homes, of all different kinds.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/201 ... n-to-rush/