2 Montreal fire service employees suspended in wake of fiasco over terrace closures on Grand Prix weekend

Two employees with the City of Montreal's fire service have been suspended following the controversial closing of restaurant terraces on Peel Street during Grand Prix weekend.

Two employees with the City of Montreal's fire service have been suspended following the controversial closing of restaurant terraces on Peel Street during Grand Prix weekend. 

"The situation was concerning so the city manager's office decided to launch an internal, administrative investigation to shed light on what happened because … what happened was unacceptable and, so far, the city manager's office decided to suspend one employee," said Luc Rabouin, the president of the mayor's executive committee, during a press conference on Monday afternoon. 

He declined to provide further details about the suspension at the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM). 

On Monday evening, Noovo Info reported that a second SIM worker had been supended, and that both employees were suspended with pay pending the investigation. 

At around 9 p.m. on Friday night, fire prevention officers with the SIM told multiple businesses to close down their terraces for alleged fire code violations otherwise their entire restaurants would be forced to close. 

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante asked for a post-mortem to be carried out after the incident, which led to multiple terraces being shut down during one of the busiest nights of the year for bars.  

Ferreira Café was one of the establishments that was targeted and owner Sandra Ferreira posted a tear-filled message about the ordeal on her Instagram after evacuating her packed terrace. Her video has racked up more than two million views.