This long-vacant spot at 64 St. Catherine E. was left that way due to the sudden disappearance by fire of the American Spaghetti House, which burned down in a conflagration that began at around 1 a.m. on February 24, 1959, killing two firefighters in the process.Edward Normoyle, 53, and Hubert Daudelin, 26, were killed in the blaze after the roof collapsed.
The restaurant was on the top two floors, and the fire started in one of the first-floor units which housed a shoe store, a gown store and a sewing shop.The fire squad also had a couple of other blazes to tame that very night, calling all 1,800 firemen into action.
Fire Chief Raymond Pare, 62, stood atop a ladder for six hours straight in the freezing cold temperatures in the futile hope of getting a rope down to save his two trapped colleagues, which included Normoyle, his brother-in-law, whose title on the fire squad was Acting Assistant Director.