The Blue Bird Cafe and the Wagon Wheel  Country & Western bar were located In downtown Montreal on Union Street between Ste Catherine and Rene Levesque streets. On the night of September 1st 1972 Three men were thrown out of the club after having problems with the staff on where to sit. They arrived, already inebriated, with other friends already in the club and when the tried to join them their was not enough seats. The staff seated them in a different location of the bar but they returned to their friends. They were eventually thrown out of the bar, where they threatened the doorman with revenge. The doorman later stated that the threats were a common occurance at the club and after the left things returned to normal. About a hour later the front of the club was engulfed in flames, unfortunatley this was the main exit and other exits were either locked or not clearly marked. In the panic the back fire escape collapsed trapping many people with no other escape route. The fire killed 37 people and injured many more, police and firefighters found bodies in the washrooms, huddled in a corner that had no exit, and jammed in a rear section of the club close to a back entrance. Three men were arrested and convicted of the crime, each given a life sentence. Here are some pictures of the event