Heritage Park apartment blaze leaves 180 residents displaced

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This article was published 20/05/2023 (888 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Water was still dripping from the charred balconies of a four-storey apartment in the Heritage Park neighbourhood Saturday morning, evidence of a blaze that ripped through the building and displaced up to 180 residents the night before.

“I’m just worried for everyone. This was home to almost 200 people,” Kay Penner said, speaking outside the building. “What do we do, who do we contact, what happens now?”

Penner has lived at the 240 Quail Ridge Rd. apartment for less than a year. She was not there when the fire began, but arrived around 7 p.m. to find some residents gathered outside.

“It was already in flames but there was no fire truck here, so I ran in to get my cat,” she said, recounting the moment she rushed up to her second-floor apartment to save her cat, Kazoo.

Penner cried as she described the feeling of stepping inside to see the hallways filled with smoke.

She does not know what remains of her apartment or belongings, and is staying with her sister while she figures out her next steps.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service arrived at the scene shortly after 7 p.m. to find the apartment fully engulfed in fire and smoke.

Fire crews set up aerial ladders and doused the flames with water from above, declaring the blaze under control after around two hours.

All occupants of the building safely self-evacuated and one firefighter was transported to the hospital in stable condition. No other injuries were reported, the WFPS said.

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service and cadets were also on scene, helping to keep people away from the blaze and manage traffic.

The apartment has approximately 45 suites. Damage estimates are not available, but residents have not been permitted to re-enter the building, which sustained “significant smoke, fire and water damage,” the WFPS said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Fences had been raised around the building’s perimeter by Saturday morning and contractors worked to clear debris from the scene.

Other nearby residents and building tenants stood behind yellow caution tape, pointing toward what remained of their former apartments.

Some remarked the top of the building resembled the scorched ends of matchsticks, with entire sections of the roof blackened and collapsed.

Standing on the grass near the building’s southeast corner, building tenant Becki Welch could see into what used to be her living room. She moved into an apartment in the building’s top floor in November with her 17-year-old son.

Their dog, Obi, would be dead if not for the efforts of firefighters, who were eventually able to enter the building and retrieve several animals, she said.

“I thought my dog perished in the fire,” Welch said, pointing toward the black and white Labradour retriever mix sitting in her car. “Then they came down holding him, soaking wet and covered in black soot.”

Many young families and seniors called the building home. Welch is concerned what will become of them, she said.

The City of Winnipeg and Red Cross are assisting displaced residents in finding temporary accommodations, the WFPS said.

“All I can say is the response from firefighters, cops and cadets was absolutely phenomenal,” Welch said.

Welch, Penner and numerous other tenants said they have not spoken with anybody from Weidner Property Management, which oversees the building.

Efforts by the Free Press to reach the company were unsuccessful. The on-site office was closed, and calls to the emergency maintenance line were left on hold for roughly 30 minutes.

An email to the company’s head-office in Kirkland, Wash., was not returned.

A woman, who arrived at the building to speak with an appraiser from WINMAR Property Restoration told the Free Press Weidner would be issuing a statement “soon.”

She declined to identify herself or say whether she worked for the property management company.

Diana Hildebrand, a resident of a neighbouring apartment at 180 Quail Ridge Rd. organized a community donation drive to support people displaced by the blaze.

“We saw the fire last night, and this morning we decided we had to do something to help,” she said.

Hildebrand issued a plea for supporting in a community Facebook group, asking people to leave donations inside her building’s common room. Within a few hours, she received hundreds of articles of clothing, toys, bedding and small appliances.

Several volunteers, including her mother Ernie Adam, helped her sort through the donations while she fielded phone calls from displaced tenants and good Samaritans offering aid.

Some people travelled from as far as Portage la Prairie to make donations. One person offered up a couch, she said.

“It has been absolutely overwhelming,” she said of the support. “The St. James community needs to come together. We need to help these people.”

She plans to keep the room open for donations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until at least Monday, and possibly into next week.

People wanting to donate larger items, such as furniture, can call her directly at 204-298-9426 to make arrangements.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca