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Scary moments in downtown blaze

Roof fire hits Portage Place annex building

By: Matt Preprost

Posted: 08/25/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

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Thick clouds of smoke cause traffic grief Tuesday during rush hour. (LISA WALDNER / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

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Firefighters amid charred building. (BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Firefighters raced Tuesday to put out a fire that was burning only steps away from the Portage Place mall and two apartment buildings in downtown Winnipeg.

The fire broke out around 5 p.m. in an annex building sandwiched between two apartment buildings on The Promenade, the tiny cobblestone street immediately outside the north exit of the mall.

The fire ignited on the building's roof and quickly spread to lower floors of the two-storey building, Winnipeg fire department platoon chief Ralph Ens said.

"The heat broke out the windows and the fire got inside," he told the Free Press.

The blaze drew a crowd of about 100 people who saw dozens of firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Some watched from their apartment balconies and even the roof of Portage Place.

Thick, dirty smoke the colour of tar quickly masked the downtown skyline.

"There was big, black billowing smoke blowing everywhere with fire coming out the bottom," said Barb Doran, who spotted the fire while walking home from her job at the University of Winnipeg. "It was just incredible."

Doran called her daughter-in-law, Donna Mathieson, who lives on the eighth floor of one of the apartment buildings.

"(She) said, 'Your building is on fire!'" said Mathieson, who was shopping in Portage Place at the time.

The mall was not evacuated, although shoppers were not allowed to leave through the back exit facing the fire.

Most residents, like Mathieson, weren't allowed into their apartment buildings. Most headed to the YMCA on Vaughan Street to wait.

Two hours later, thin tendrils of white smoke still drifted from broken windows.

The building housed several businesses on the main floor, including the University of Manitoba's Downtown Aboriginal Education Centre, a grocery store and a fashion store. The top floor contained several residential suites, residents said.

A University of Manitoba spokesman couldn't immediately comment on the fire.

Ens pegged an early estimate of damage to the badly charred building and its contents at $1 million. The cause is still under investigation, although Ens doubted arson was involved.

One firefighter was injured and at least one resident suffered smoke inhalation. The firefighter's injuries are unknown.

Rush-hour traffic on Portage Avenue was disrupted as the thick smoke blew across the intersections of Portage Avenue and Vaughan and Carlton streets. Traffic was also tied up at Ellice Avenue and Colony Street.

matt.preprost@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 25, 2010 A5

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