Montreal to honour the memory of 37 people killed in 1972 club fire

MONTREAL – Montreal will today honour the memory of the 37 people who perished in one of the city’s worst fires — the Blue Bird Club fire 40 years ago tomorrow.

On Sept. 1, 1972, the Wagon Wheel, a club located just above the Blue Bird, was filled with about 200 people on a Friday night.

Three drunk men, upset at being denied entry by a bouncer, set fire to a staircase that served as the main entry to the Wagon Wheel. Many victims unable to escape died of smoke inhalation.

A memorial mass will be held at the Mary Queen of the World Cathedral this morning.

Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay will then help unveil a commemorative stone in Phillips Square, near the scene of the tragedy, on which 37 names are inscribed.

Other activities will take place Saturday, the 40th anniversary of the fire.

Most of the 37 victims were in their teens and early 20s and another 56 people were injured.

Three men were convicted. James O’Brien and Jean-Marc Boutin were found guilty of second-degree murder, and Gilles Eccles was convicted of manslaughter.

The fire was the worst in Montreal since the Laurier Palace theatre fire in 1927 in which 78 children died while watching a silent comedy film.

A plaque marks the spot of that fire but the Blue Bird site was razed and there’s now a parking lot with nothing official to mark the scene of the tragedy.