Blue Bird memorial plaque unveiling a bittersweet event

MONTREAL - A profoundly touching ceremony took place Friday to unveil a permanent monument to the 37 victims of the Blue Bird Café fire of 1972.

The day started with a mass at Mary Queen of the World Cathedrale, as part of an annual service which is usually set aside to commemorate the sacrifices made by the city’s fire fighters.

At 11:00 a.m. Mayor Gerald Tremblay and Executive Committee member Claude Trudel unveiled the plaque in Phillips Square containing the names of all 37 victims of the tragic fire that started when three young men lit the stairs as a prank after being refused entry to the country and western bar.

The permament memorial was the fruit of a campaign organized by children and survivors, including Sharon Share, whose father Jerry Share died in the blaze.

Sharon Share was weeks away from being born when her father died in the fire, so the two never met.

But her big regret is that her widowed mother is not still alive to see the monument.

“We're doing this for her,” said Sharon. “We're doing it for our father, for everybody."

Others who were profoundly touched by the event include fire investigator Andre Mainville.

“I didn't think after 40 years people would remember and I’m surprised to see all the people here,” he said.

Another survivor noted that although they had to wait 40 years, it was worth it.

“It has been a very, very long time coming but it's here and we're overwhelmed by the turnout in the church,” said David Montgomery.

The city could not put the plaque on the site of the actual tragedy, as it became a parking lot and is now a condo project but it was able to find a spot for the monument in the nearby square.

“I sincerely hope that this recognition will bring peace to all the families that have lost dear ones,” said Mayor Tremblay.

Others such as James Fanning, who lost his wife in the blaze, appreciate seeing her name immortalized on the newly-engraved wall at Phillips Square. He does not, however, have a clear memory of their last moments together.

"She was sitting at my table, I ordered a beer and then all of a sudden flames came up through the floor and she went through the floor," he said. "That's all I remember."

“I had her by the hand and after that I don't remember nothing,” said James Fanning, now 72. He said that the 13-hour drive was worth it.

Others said that the event was emotionally challenging, including one who lost her sister.

“It's very tough but I’m very happy for her. It's a good day for her and I’ll never forget today,” said Elaine Forget.

Another was there to tell his son how much he misses him.

“I lost my boy Rejean Lajoie. He was 18. Too young to die. We can't forget eh? We can't forget.”

It was a painful return to Montreal on Friday for Linda Nagy, a survivor whose hands and face were burned by the fire. She had not been back to the city since the tragedy.

Nagy, from Sarnia. Ont., said she was a 16-year-old who was visiting aunts and uncles when a family friend offered to take her to the Blue Bird that night.

"I remember seeing fire coming up the staircase because I was sitting just across from there and then going into the back room trying to escape," she said in an interview.

"I found myself in front of a door and it was locked and I asked for God's help to help me out and that door opened -- I don't know who did that, that day, but I'm here."

That fateful night, the Wagon Wheel, a club located just above the Blue Bird, was filled with about 200 people.

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.

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

Further commemorations took place on Saturday.

Three men were convicted. James O'Brien and Jean-Marc Boutin were found guilty of second-degree murder, while 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.

-With a file from The Canadian Press