FIRE SWEEPS COLLEGE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22305, 20 January 1938, Page 11

FIRE SWEEPS COLLEGE

DEATHROLL OF 30 REPORTED PANIC AMONG PUPILS AND TEACHERS CHILDREN JUMP FROM FOURTH STOREY ON TO ICE (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT.) (Received January 19, T p.m.) MONTREAL, January 18. A fire which destroyed the Sacred Heart College in St. Hyacinthe, near Quebec, caused about 30 deaths. Those killed include both teachers and pupils. Seventeen bodies were recovered and at least 13 are missing.

Panic spread amongst the 1®) pupils and 30 priests and brothers as the fire swept through the college. The blaze began at 2 a.rm. when everyone was asleep. Outside the building a tremendous frost of 8 degrees below zero had covered everything with ice. Many of those trapped in the building raced for the fire-escapes, and were forced, by pressure from behind, to fall to the ice below. Many were seriously hurt ki this way.

Bystanders Unable to Help Church bells summoned the townsfolk, when a workman discovered the fire and ran to obtain assistance. Hundreds hurried to the scene but were unable to approach near enough to the blazing building to help the trapped pupils. The terror-stricken youngsters ran hysterically in all directions as the fire blocked the corridors, finally enveloping the whole structure.^ Twenty were sent to hospital seriously hurt, including those who had jumped from the fourth storey. The only identified body was that of Brother Jean Baptiste, aged 64, a teacher who also had leapt from the fourth floor. Many boys are being treated for bums, broken bones, and other injuries, in the school hospital nearby. Those who escaped were all scantily clad and were taken in by surrounding householders. The structure was tee-shaped, with dormitories in the upper part. The fourth storey and the ground floor burned most quickly and soon collapsed, but 10 hours after the discovery of the fire firemen were still compelled to pour in water since the blaze was still unextinguished. One journalist declared that half an hour after the discovery of the fire all the exits were wrapped in flame and firemen were unable to enter. Those inside had to save themselves as best they could. The cause of the fire has not been determined.