Almost all of the archives stored at the Quebec City armoury were spared by a fire that gutted the historic building, officials said.

Soldiers help salvage materials from the armoury in Quebec City on Saturday.
(Clement Allard/Canadian Press)

Lt.-Col. Eric Gosselin told the Canadian Press on Sunday that the efforts of firefighters helped save a lot of the statues, flags and documents dating back to the Northwest Rebellion led by Louis Riel in 1885, and the First and Second World Wars.

"They have helped us enormously to recover a good part of the collection and the artifacts that were stored at the museum," he said.

The fire —which destroyed the 121-year-old armoury on Friday — spared as much as 90 per cent of the archives, some officials estimated.

Firefighters were dispatched to the armoury, which was undergoing renovations, on Friday evening. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion after the fire began.

No one was in the building at the time of the fire and there have been no reports of injuries.

Investigators said it's not yet known what might have caused the explosion. There was no ammunition stored in the building.

The armoury is located just outside the walls of the Old City and is home to the Voltigeurs, which is also the oldest French infantry regiment in the country.

Built in 1884, the armoury boasted the largest suspended wooden ceiling of any building in Canada.

Over the weekend, Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion called on Ottawa to rebuild the landmark armoury.

With files from the Canadian Press