Blue Bird Café fire

Blue Bird Café fire
Site of the Blue Bird in 2012, then a parking lot. Since 2018, it is the location of Tom Condos.
DateSeptember 1, 1972 (1972-09-01)
VenueBlue Bird Café
LocationMontreal, Quebec, Canada
TypeFire
CauseArson
Deaths37
Non-fatal injuries
  • Five firefighters
  • Unknown number of civilians
Convicted
  • Gilles Eccles
  • James O’Brien
  • Jean-Marc Boutin
ChargesArson, murder
VerdictGuilty
SentenceLife imprisonment (paroled within a decade)

The Blue Bird Café fire was a nightclub fire on September 1, 1972, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In all, 37 people were killed as a result of arson.

The fire was the deadliest in Montreal since 1927, when 77 people perished in the Laurier Palace Theatre Fire.