This story was published July 7, 2013.



MONTREAL — As investigators begin to sift through the wreckage of downtown Lac-Mégantic, family and friends of the 40 people still missing after the spectacular blaze early Saturday morning might have to accept the grim reality that it could be days, months or even years before some of their loved ones are positively identified amid the ashes.

Given the intensity of the fire and the heat — which razed 30 buildings and, according to some witnesses, could be felt kilometres away — it’s possible people were completely vapourized in the explosions, said Geneviève Guilbault, a spokesperson for the Quebec coroner’s office who was on site Sunday.

“We can deduce that many of the bodies are severely burned,” Guilbault said. “That complicates identification, but all necessary means at our disposal will be used to identify them.”

She said the five bodies recovered so far will be sent to Montreal for forensic identification.

But it’s possible some of the bodies will never be found.

“Right now, we’re working on those we are able to recover,” Guilbault said.

It is a long, grim process.

Identifying human remains from a disaster site typically means getting as much information from the families of the missing individuals as possible: dental records, X-rays, photographs or descriptions of tattoos, clothing and jewelry, as well as blood-type information and objects that might contain the deceased’s DNA, such as hair or a toothbrush.

Forensic anthropologists working with fire investigators can help differentiate human remains from other components of the debris. Then the remains are compared with the biographical information and DNA to try to find a match.

Kathy Reichs, a best-selling author and forensic anthropologist who works at the Quebec government’s Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale, said the central forensic lab in Montreal was put on notice to expect multiple deaths from Lac-Mégantic.

She said it would probably be a very difficult task to recover human remains from the debris, given the intensity and duration of the fire.

“Anyone caught in that, the remains will be extremely compromised,” Reichs said. “Primarily, they will try to go with dental IDs — it’s so hard to say unless you know what they’re going to recover. But a fire that burned that hot and that long, it’s pretty devastating.”

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., Reichs was deployed to Ground Zero in New York, with one of the “DMORTs” or Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, to try to identify human remains — a job that is still not finished.

Last week, on July 5, the remains of another firefighter killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center were identified, more than 11 years later. He was the third to be identified since April.

In Lac-Mégantic, townfolk are still holding out hope their missing loved ones will be found alive.

On a Facebook Support Group for Lac-Mégantic, with 17,756 members as of Sunday afternoon, members asked for information about loved ones — Gilles, Yves, Geneviève. They offered help, a free apartment or donations, and occasionally, they reported that a loved one had been found, safe and sound.

csolyom@montrealgazette.com

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