# remembering Angéline at l'Isle Verte



## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

by now many have read about Angéline, the 88-year-old widow who escaped onto the balcony of her 3rd floor bedroom during the fire at l'Isle Verte & phoned her son.

he raced to bring a ladder but it did not quite reach the balcony. He went to get a bigger ladder, but in the minutes this took, flames engulfed the balcony & she died before his eyes.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/0...ents-have-died-but-they-remain-in-the-rubble/

as reporters filed the details of the mass tragedy in the lower st-lawrence, i realized it was Angéline & her husband Léo we had stayed with, many years ago, at their farmhouse on the island of l'Isle Verte, for which the town is named.

we were french summer students at Trois Pistoles. The school ran a 3-day weekend camp on the north shore of Isle Verte.

the location was magical, because there was no sign of human habitation. Pine forests ran down to the rocky shore. Everywhere were wild strawberries, raspberries, currants & gooseberries. Offshore, whales spouted in the broad st-lawrence river. All looked exactly as it did when jacques cartier & de maisonneuve sailed up the river to explore the new world.

Angéline & Léo were community leaders on the island of Isle Verte. Léo was the bell canada lineman. He owned & operated the sole ferry boat between Isle Verte island & Isle Verte town on the mainland. It ran twice a day, at high tide only. 

the couple also looked after the Trois Pistoles summer camp, which was due north, across the island, from their farmhouse. Léo drove the students from the ferry landing to the camp & back again. Some hiked the distance but he took their back packs in the truck. Léo did all the camp maintenance; he & Angéline did all the grocery shopping for 26 people, delivering fresh food & more supplies to the camp on saturday.

when the 3-day camp was over, some of us stayed an extra day with Angéline at the farm. All of her 12 children had grown up & left the farmhouse. 

that night, Léo didn't say much, but Angéline told us stories about the fish-smoking industry on the island, about the sheep grazing on salt marshes which eventually became specialty dishes in fine restaurants as far away as new york city, about the International Linneaus society's whale-watching camp that was being held at the same time at the historic Isle Verte lighthouse, only half a kilometre from our own camp.

her first 11 children had been delivered at home, right there in the farmhouse, Angéline said. But for the 12th, she had gone to the hospital in mainland Isle Verte.

nat post journo graeme hamilton recounts this same detail, which i remember hearing from Angéline herself long ago.

which did you like better? i asked.

her answer was swift. Oh, the hospital, the hospital, she said, beaming.

Angéline thought i was too thin. What are you living on, love & thin air? she asked, with a sidelong glance at the boyfriend of the époch.

on our last day on the island, Angéline made us a strawberry mousse with sun-warmed strawberries picked from her garden only minutes before. I was surprised by its sophistication. It could have graced a 5-star restaurant table, one with a mantra of ultra-fresh-local-simple. It was thick whipped cream from Isle Verte island cows plus crushed strawberries plus a touch of sugar.

Yum, we cried. Angéline's answering smile came quickly, the way people smile when they already know their creation is going to be a sure-fire hit.

i hardly know yet what to feel, i am so shocked & distressed by the news of this terrible suffering inflicted upon a proud, plain, hardworking & virtuous people.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Very tragic and touching to say the least. It's sad to lose such a resilient generation this way.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

I have been watching the news and can't believe how this tragedy could have happened. 
No sprinklers in the older part of this retirement building, and many of the residents were disabled and couldn't get out without help. 

8 are confirmed dead and 30 still missing. If all 30 still missing have died in this fire, then it's a tragedy comparable to Lac Megantic, as some have already
described. It just doesn't seem fair that people that worked all their lives, and were trying to live out their last years in a peaceful happy environment 
should be taken in such a cruel tragic way. Cries for rescue that could not be fulfilled because the flames overpowered the rescuers. 
Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers perishing, without anybody by their side calling for help that never came.

The horrible aftermath and recovery using steam to thaw out the ice coated burned out remnants and the victims still entombed inside.

We can all offer our condolences to the families, but somehow it just doesn't seem enough for the horrible tragedy that happened there. 
Who was responsible, what was the cause of the fire at midnight? It's hard to believe..it happened so fast! Will the answers ever be known?


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

i think a good way for everyone to offer their own memorials & tributes might be to honour the amazing accomplishments of the elders amongst us in the here & now. Elders such as yourself, carverman!


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

humble_pie said:


> i think a good way for everyone to offer their own memorials & tributes might be to honour the amazing accomplishments of the elders amongst us in the here & now. Elders such as yourself, carverman!


Yes, I can somewhat relate, I think. The last thing I would want right now is to be in one of these retirement homes subjected to this kind of tragedy. 
My mobility is very limited right now, and I probably would be helpless in a situation such as what happened there, so I am very glad that I can still live in my own home,
and look after myself (for now). 
All I would have to worry about, is my next door neighbour, (I think she's 86 or 87), but thankfully she is a non-smoker, and there is a cement firewall between my half and her half of our semi-detached house we live in. 

She has told me for years, she would never agree to be placed in one of those retirement homes, and so far she has managed on her own, with the help of her sister that delivers her weekly groceries. I think there is a some kind of nurse/house cleaner that comes around every two weeks or so.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

carverman said:


> ... I am very glad that I can still live in my own home,
> and look after myself


i'm glad too
piss & vinegar!
don't ever stop


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

Great story hp. So sorry to read about the fire.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Thank you for sharing that humble..........

How fortunate that you met her on your life journey.....and she made such an indelible impression on you.

Her son.....what words could express the sorrow....but what a lucky lad to have shared his life with the parents he was blessed to have.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

On the news this morning; 10 confirmed dead and 22 presumed dead at this point. Police say that it may take months to determine the cause of the fire.

Ok, but you would think that an ounce of prevention (sprinklers) would have prevented, or at least contained the spread of the fire. 
When the 3 story structure (I believe) was all wood, with wooden floors and little or no fireproofing between resident's rooms,
it was a recipe for a disaster. Whether the cause was a careless smoker in a room, or from something else, they may never know with 
the total devastation we see in the pictures. It was extremely cold night and anything could have started the blaze...electrical, a space heater...who knows?
As in any accident or disaster, there are several factors involved not just one. 

In one of Canada's worse, the wooden building was a firetrap to begin with. 



> The most deadly structural fire in what is now Canada consumed the Knights of Columbus hostel in St John's, Nfld, on 12 December 1942. An arsonist set fire to the building when it was packed with military personnel and their companions. The hostel was a firetrap: doors opened inward, exits were restricted and there was no emergency lighting system. Within 5 minutes 99 persons had been burned to death and 100 seriously injured. The main fire station was only 180 m away, but the building was doomed before the engines arrived.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

Nice homage HP. Terrible tragedy.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

So terribly sad to have been taken in such a cruel way.

May their souls RIP.


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