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MONTREAL — The city of Montreal is being partly blamed for the death of a firefighter.
Quebec’s workplace safety board said Thursday it will hand the city a fine ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 for its role in the death of Marcel Marleau last January.
Marleau, 47, was killed when a fire suddenly broke out as he was responding to a routine call about a suspicious odour in an apartment building. The veteran firefighter was not wearing a respirator when he entered the apartment.
The safety board found the city, by not insisting that firefighters wear protective gas masks, ''compromised directly and seriously’’ their health and safety.
A spokesman for the safety board said the eventual fine will be determined by a Quebec court judge, adding that their investigation into Marleau’s death is continuing.
As a result of its own inquiry into the blaze, Montreal’s fire department ordered in June that firefighters working near flames or even a small amount of smoke wear a mask ''at all times,’' said Jacques Proteau, the fire department’s assistant director.