Firm that owns fire-ravaged Point Douglas building hit by fire repeatedly By: Chris Kitching Posted: 5:56 PM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 5, 2023

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This article was published 05/07/2023 (1120 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg company that owns a Point Douglas industrial building destroyed in a massive blaze Tuesday has been hit by a string of fires in the last 12 years.

For residents, the inferno that left a charred steel shell and huge piles of rubble adds to longstanding concerns about fires and vacant or neglected buildings in the core neighbourhood.

“We’re all so tired of all the fires,” said Catherine Flynn, acting chair of the Point Douglas Residents Committee. “It breaks my heart that we lost that building. It should have been a national historic site.”

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said he shares residents’ concerns and will meet with the committee to discuss issues and the blaze that gutted the former Vulcan Iron Works foundry at Sutherland Avenue and Maple Street North.

The cause is under investigation.

Gateway Industries is the registered owner of the nearly two-hectare site, city records show.

The Companies Office database lists Sheldon Blank as the owner.

Blank said he was unable to answer questions Wednesday because he was dealing with a family matter.

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A separate industrial site at 2 Point Douglas Ave. had multiple fires between 2011 and 2022.

Gateway Industries, which had a paper mill and made soap, shampoo and conditioner at the site, was among the businesses registered at the site during that period.

After a March 2022 blaze in a storage building, Blank told the Free Press he was ready to give up on the site due to the arsons, break-ins and vandalism. He called for a crackdown on arsonists.

The city had said there were fires at various buildings on the Point Douglas Avenue site in 2011, 2014, 2021 and February 2022, plus multiple small outdoor fires.

Arson and mischief charges were laid against a 21-year-old woman after the 2021 fire.

The incident had similarities with the 2011 blaze and Tuesday’s inferno at the Sutherland and Maple location.

In all three fires, nearby homes were temporarily evacuated, toxic smoke posed health or environmental concerns, streets were closed and fire officials remained on scene for days.

The site that was on fire this week had connected buildings.

Residents and former tenant Don Montebruno said the location was deteriorating.

“We’re all so tired of all the fires.”–Catherine Flynn, Point Douglas Residents Committee

Montebruno, who co-owns Merit Iron, said his company moved out a couple of years ago due to concerns about the structure, including a leaky roof.

“The roof wasn’t healthy,” he said. “It was a nice shop — nice and high — and they treated us very well, but the deterioration of the building made us move on.”

Montebruno said his business had a few break-ins while it was a tenant.

The building and land were for sale, according to a sign that listed a phone number that was answered by Blank on Wednesday.

Residents said a makeshift fence, made of plywood and other material, had been erected around part of the site.

“People would push it over and go in there,” said Jordan Van Sewell, an artist who lives in the area. “I would phone the number on the sign and say your fence is compromised and someone is going to get in there and burn the place down.

“It’s such a shame that that piece of history has been eliminated.”

Residents expressed concern about vacant or neglected buildings that pose a fire risk and attract squatters and crime.

“Any time you’ve got a vacant building around here, you’re going to have people accessing it and going in and out,” said Flynn, who praised firefighters.

“The owners of these derelict properties have to… be put in a situation where they either clean it up or they lose it,” said Van Sewell.

In June, city council approved new measures to crack down on vacant and derelict properties, including additional inspections and higher security standards for those that are repeatedly set on fire or used by squatters.

Residents fear the former Vulcan Iron Works building’s remains will be a fenced-off hazard or eyesore for months — or longer.

They said a row of businesses in the 800 block of Main Street is a recent example of fire-damaged buildings not being cleaned up in a timely manner.

The risk of asbestos exposure has delayed efforts to clean up that rubble.

Gillingham wants the Sutherland and Maple site to be cleaned up as soon as possible. He said the effort could be delayed if there are environmental concerns.

“It’s such a shame that that piece of history has been eliminated.”–Jordan Van Sewell

Traditionally, the property owner is responsible, he said, but the city can issue clean-up orders or demolition permits.

“The bottom line is we don’t want vacant and derelict buildings and vacant sites in our communities,” said Gillingham. “Right now, we have over 600 of them. That’s too many.”

The mayor plans to speak to the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service about whether there should be changes to reporting requirements for the contents of industrial buildings.

The WFPS said the site contained chemicals, vehicles, tires and other concerns.

City Coun. Ross Eadie, who represents the area, suggested there should be regular inspections of industrial properties for fire hazards.

He predicted it will be some time before the site is cleaned up.

The province’s environmental emergency team was at the fire scene Tuesday to monitor air quality and conduct pH tests.

“At times during (the) incident, there were elevated levels of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds when water was applied to the fire,” a spokeswoman said. “A plume of smoke would emerge but would dissipated quickly into the atmosphere.”

She said run-off fire water would flow into the sewer system and be treated by the North End Water Pollution Control Centre.

— with files from Joyanne Pursaga

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching

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Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.