Four individuals killed in two distinct house fires north of Montreal

A 91-year-old man and 46-year-old woman are dead after a Jan. 5 house fire in Boisbriand, Que., a Montreal suburb roughly 25 kilometres northwest of downtown.

Earlier on Jan. 5, two other people were killed in a house fire in Rawdon, Que., about 60 kilometres north of Montreal.

In Boisbriand, police spokesperson Karine Desaulniers says an 8:30 a.m. call alerted emergency services to smoke coming from a residence in a neighbourhood west of the town centre.

Ms. Desaulniers says police and firefighters were told at the scene about the possibility a man and woman were inside the house.

The two victims were eventually found and brought to hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire and say it may have been linked to an electrical problem.

In Rawdon, Quebec provincial police spokesperson Éloïse Cossette says emergency services responded to a call from someone reporting a fire in their home at around 1:30 a.m.

Ms. Cossette says police and firefighters arrived to find the blaze had spread throughout the residence.

Firefighters later discovered the two bodies.

Provincial police are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

Police have confirmed that two people lived at the Rawdon residence, but Ms. Cossette says authorities have yet to formally identify the bodies.