Fire guts 111-year-old apartment block

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This article was published 05/03/2024 (595 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dozens of tenants ran from their suites in a three-storey walk-up to escape a fire that raged for hours and rendered the Toronto Street building, near the Health Sciences Centre, a complete loss.

Corey Timm managed to escape from his first-floor suite with his mother, Ruth, but couldn’t save his cat or his collectibles.

“I’ve lost everything… everything,” he said, as he sat in a Winnipeg Transit bus parked on Notre Dame Avenue to keep displaced residents out of the cold.

The City of Winnipeg later said all residents got out safely and no one was injured. Firefighters rushed to the brick building at 774 Toronto Street, in the Daniel McIntyre neighbourhood, after a 911 call at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

They encountered heavy smoke and were forced to retreat from the interior due to poor conditions, choosing instead to fight the blaze solely from outside. Crews used aerial ladders and hoses on the apartment complex as well as neighbouring buildings. An apartment block next door was evacuated as a precaution, the city said.

Aerial and thermal imaging from a drone were being used to direct water and locate hot spots as thick smoke blanketed the area.

Throughout rush hour, trucks and police tape blocked off either side of Toronto street between Wellington and Notre Dame avenues; nearby sidewalks were slick with ice as residents stood outside watching. Traffic was down to one lane on eastbound Notre Dame.

Catherine Robichaud, who had her cats in a kennel, said she lived across the hall from where the fire is suspected to have started.

“I first heard the alarm and I was wondering what was going on. I had to leave my work meeting,” she said.

As she went to leave her suite on the third floor, she saw smoke pouring out from the apartment across the hall.

The city said crews were expected to stay at the scene throughout the night to bring the blaze under control. City social services staff was on hand to help tenants find temporary accommodation.

“The building has sustained significant fire, smoke, and water damage and is expected to be a complete loss. Toronto Street will be closed between (Wellington and Notre Dame) until crews depart,” the city said in a release, adding the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Iris Ramer, who lives nearby on Home Street, noticed the power go out just after 4 p.m.

“I saw the huge plume of smoke and had to come check it out,” she said, looking at the multi-unit building as flames shot out of the third-floor windows at the rear of the complex.

Manitoba Hydro crews could be seen working on power lines down the back lane from the fire, while stop lights in the vicinity were out of order.

Ramer worried about the increase in building fires in his neighbourhood and said it could be the result of a number of things, including break-and-enters in vacant structures or faulty wiring in the century-old builds.

The three-storey brick block was built in 1913 and has 14 suites, according to the Manitoba Historical Society. It was originally named Sylvia Apartments before being renamed Glenora Apartments in 1936.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca