WFPS, firefighters union sound alarm over vacant property blazes, effect on exhausted crews By: Nicole Buffie Posted: 2:37 PM CDT Tuesday, Jul. 30, 2024 Last Modified: 6:09 PM CDT Tuesday, Jul. 30, 2024 Updates

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Vacant-property fires in Winnipeg are occurring at a record-breaking pace this year, leading exhausted firefighters to turn down overtime to battle the problem that is “starting to spiral out of control.”

According to city data reviewed by the Free Press, fire crews had, as of June 30, responded to 114 blazes at vacant properties. In all of 2023, there were 156 such fires, the most ever recorded.

“I’m surprised the numbers weren’t higher,” said Tom Bilous, president of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg.

Of the total blazes, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service personnel extinguished fires at 57 vacant buildings and 15 outdoor properties up to June 30 this year. In 2023, the number was 82 buildings and 17 outdoor properties.

Grass fires, blazes in trash bins, vehicles, storage properties and miscellaneous fires at vacant properties made up the rest of the total numbers.

“It’s starting to spiral out of control…. The city needs to know that they cannot overtime themselves out of this problem.”–Tom Bilous, president of United Firefighters of Winnipeg

In 2023, WFPS responded to 3,389 fires — an increase of approximately 33 per cent over 2022 and an 87 per cent increase since 2019. The majority of the 2023 spike was attributable to outdoor incidents.

The pressure vacant building fires put on city fire crews is prompting emergency responders to turn down overtime pay to look after their physical and mental health.

“(Firefighters) are saying, ‘No, I’ve been to five, six, 10 fires in the last week and I need a few days off with my family,’” Bilous said.

“We cannot get enough members to come in. It’s starting to spiral out of control…. The city needs to know that they cannot overtime themselves out of this problem.”

Claims related to physical and psychological injury have climbed due to repeated and multiple responses to vacant property fires. Members are expressing a general sense of fatigue, exhaustion, frustration and helplessness, he said.

“(Crews) go to a three-storey, well-involved fire and it’s just another Wednesday for them,” the union president said. “It’s now expected you’re going to have one of those every shift and it’s really bizarre.”

In 2022 the Workers Compensation Board received 467 claims for physical injury from firefighters and paramedics, up from 372 claims in 2021. In 2022 first responders filed 43 claims related to psychological harm, a slight decrease from 50 in 2021. Data for 2023 and 2024 was not available.

WFPS deputy chief Scott Wilkinson called the fire statistics “very concerning” and said he’s worried about the impact the blazes are having on staff.

“We are experiencing a level of burnout, and because of injuries, long-term injuries and mental-health injury, we’re having to call them in on overtime,” he said.

“It’s a vicious circle where eventually people, you know, aren’t going to be available for all that overtime.”

The refusals have impacted the city’s ability to deploy crews on occasion, he said.

Other Canadian cities aren’t dealing with anything like the problem here. Last year Mississauga counted three fires at vacant buildings, Calgary firefighters battled 38 and Edmonton recorded 41.

Mayor Scott Gillingham blamed the issue on back-lane debris and said the city has recently started picking up bulky waste such as mattresses, couches and chairs from back lanes every second week.

“We need to see (fires) reduced for several reasons. First of all, it represents neighbourhood life; it’s unfair to area residents… to be looking at vacant and derelict buildings day in, day out,” Gillingham said.

“It represents a fire hazard, and too often they’re areas where criminal activity takes place, as well.”

Bilous is happy with the steps the city is taking, but said tougher regulations should have been implemented “decades ago.”

“This has gotten to ridiculous levels,” he said. “Citizens are the ones paying the price for it because now their safety is jeopardized through long wait times.”

He said he’s also concerned that outdated staffing ratios, which are regulated by the municipal government, will further increase response times and continue to burn out personnel.

Staffing ratios in the WFPS currently sit at 1.29 staff per position to account for illness and vacation.

Wilkinson said while more staff is always welcome, the issue is prevention.

“We can’t just throw more and more firefighters at it… we need to slow down these numbers, he said.

Bilous, Gillingham and Wilkinson all agreed that the root cause of fires falls on socioeconomic issues that lead homeless and vulnerable people to shelter in vacant and derelict buildings.

The mayor maintains the onus to care for the properties falls on owners.

Recent changes to the city’s vacant building bylaw will require owners to board up properties with thicker plywood and longer screws. The amendment also increased the first inspection fee to $1,685 from $1,355 and adds $1,000 per subsequent inspection.

Wilkinson said the city is also reconsidering the current fee structure to further hold vacant property owners accountable and incentivize proper care of derelict properties.

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Bilous wants to see a reduction in red tape and quicker condemnation of vacant and derelict buildings.

Gillingham recently travelled to New York City for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a professional development course for mayors to discuss and work toward addressing a key issue in their cities.

Vacant and derelict buildings were highlighted as the key issue in Winnipeg.

To date, the city has identified about 700 problem properties needing redevelopment.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

Every piece of reporting Nicole 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.