א כשר'ע רעסטאראנט אונטערגעצינדן אין מאנטריאל, באאמטע פאדערן א העיט קריים אויספארשונג.
Suspect Fled the Scene as Kosher Eatery Burned, Montreal Police Reveal
A fire tore through Nöam, a popular kosher restaurant on Décarie Boulevard in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, early Saturday morning, gutting the two-story building and prompting police to launch an arson investigation. Nearly 80 firefighters responded to the two-alarm blaze, which broke out around 3:15 a.m. and caused extensive damage to both the restaurant and an adjacent garage housed in the same multi-commercial building. Video captured from a passing vehicle showed intense flames engulfing the structure in the darkness, and while the building sustained major damage, police confirmed no injuries were reported.
Montreal police say evidence at the scene points to deliberate ignition, and the case has been handed over to the department's arson squad for further investigation. A spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal said surveillance footage shows a person leaving the premises shortly after the fire began, and investigators are actively reviewing that video as part of the probe. Police have stated they are not ruling out any motive, including the possibility that the popular Jewish-owned business was deliberately targeted because of its identity.
The fire has drawn swift condemnation from Quebec officials, with Liberal MP Anthony Housefather calling it an apparent "arson attack" that must be investigated and prosecuted as a hate crime, describing it as a direct attack on a Jewish-owned business. Federal Minister Marc Miller echoed those concerns, saying he was "disgusted" by the incident and trusting that it would be properly investigated as such. The fire comes amid a wave of antisemitic incidents reported across Canada in recent months, adding to concerns within Montreal's Jewish community as authorities work to determine exactly who was behind the blaze and why.
