In the morning of June 20th 2013, a tremendous explosion within the BME Fireworks factory in Coteau-du-lac, Quebec, was uncovered and took  the lives of two people.

The subsequent incident sparked an enormous initial explosion leading to several other blasts at the beginning of the work day, shortly before 9 am.

Located just off the highway, approximately 50km of Montreal, many citizens witnessed the unfortunate series of events in their community. Startled citizens gazed in astonishment as houses and buildings were rattled one at a time.

"At first we thought it was a plane that crashed. Everything shook " said Olivier Roy, a source of IPick News.

"The building lifted in the air ... it was terrifying " said Roy.

Fireworks went off for several hours along with large amounts of smoke that be soon and heard throughout the city.

"The effects were felt, heard and seen far beyond the immediate area " said Jan Ravensberger, a renowned reporter of our daily newspaper.

A shut down of the highway 20 and an immediate evacuation was ordered by the Montreal authorities. Shortly after, the first explosions went off. The citizens of Coteau-du-lac were immediately taken to the community centre nearby until further notice was given by the officialls.

For several hours, cars and trucks were grounded between exit 16 and 24, a route of 5km of length.  Chaos reigned for several hours on the highway 20 and the availability of reliable and fast efficient transportation was non-existent.

The Québec Police and Sureté du Québec released the discovery of two bodies within the remains of the fire at approximately 1pm.

Since 1988, BEM is renowned for their reliable and secure services to the public. Their products are trusted and used worldwide till this day.

"BEM is a highly contemporary company. Yet, our modern technology and expertise have grown from the knowledge accumulated over the centuries during man's quest to control and domesticate fire," mentions the BEM website.

Yet, the cause of such a traumatic event remains a complete and utter mystery.

The intensity of the fire and the unknown nature of the explosion kept the fire fighters at arm's length. Back up from various cities came forth to lend a helping hand to this small community.

"Around 14 departments and 150 firefighters worked to extinguish the glaze in very difficult circumstances"  said the fire chief Massicotte, a source from CTV News.

The fire was no longer a source of danger by early afternoon but small fireworks could still be heard throughout the day.

However, some elements remain questionable and potential hazards have risen from the occasion. No fire hydrants were within reach of the surroundings areas and nor could fire fighters attain immediate accessibility to a source of water.

"Whether or not if negligence is a factor in this case, no sprinklers were found in the building " said Massicotte.

A prestigious establishment like BME Fireworks should have better measures of protections for their employees sake and for the future of their company. A water source should always be at proximity of any intuition , especially with an enormous fire hazard such as this one. Furthermore, the building was an older building and the new requirements might not have been met by the government. Their concerns have already been raised and an investigation is under it's way.

"Working around and with fireworks is a very dangerous business. It takes so little to have an accident and when dealing with explosives, these accidents can be deadly. That is why the fireworks industry is so regulated by the ERD. There is nothing funny or lighthearted about the safety regs that must be followed, the inspections done on all magazines & production facilities & safety plans by the Inspectors." stated an anonymous commentator.

The police could not release the names of the following two victims before their deaths were disclosed to their immediate family members.

The Commission de la santé et sécurité du travail will be involved in this incident.  Further assessment will be done on the involvement of workplace and safety hazards within the BME intuition. 

Photo Credit: Montreal and Ottawa CTV News