Fire effects linger after smoke clears

Muhammad Zubair barely realized he got a speeding ticket when he raced to his Winnipeg business last month — but it was the last thing that mattered.

He thinks the flash of the traffic camera happened at McPhillips Street and Jefferson Avenue as he sped to PunjabAuto on Henry Avenue because the garage he’s owned since 2013 was ablaze.

“Our business is not insured, so technically, we lost everything,” Zubair said of the April 24 fire, reported around 3 a.m.

The fire cost him approximately $100,000 and left him with nothing but questions.

Zubair said he suspects foul play because the fence surrounding his business was broken and a car was stolen from his garage, but the city has yet to determine the fire’s cause.

“All we know is that somebody broke in …” he said. “Where it started, we don’t know. How it started, we have no idea.”

Zubair said he spoke to police and firefighters about the damage and theft the day of the fire, but has heard nothing since. Now the business is closed indefinitely as Zubair tries to figure out next steps.

He’s not alone, as Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service acknowledges the city’s rate of fires is significantly higher than many comparable Canadian and North American cities. However, when it comes to suspicious or incendiary fires in the city, it’s still in the process of finalizing statistics, and they’ll be released soon.

But even when a fire is suspicious, it doesn’t mean it’ll be ruled an arson.

The Winnipeg Police Service crime map shows how many arson charges have been laid in the city, but fire officials said those numbers don’t represent actual trends, as “in many cases, investigators may not have enough evidence to proceed to charges.”

In some cases, whether or not charges have even been laid remains a question mark.

Chris Buffington is the executive director of Forward House in Winnipeg’s Chalmers neighbourhood. In 2025, someone burned the supportive housing organization’s utility trailer to the ground.

Buffington said in video of the fire he turned over to police, the person spent some time and made multiple efforts to set the blaze, running off after the fire was set.

“It was a complete write off,” he said of the trailer.

“It really did bother me. Forward House is trying to help change lives in our community … for somebody to just walk by and say: ‘Hey, I’m going to start a fire.’ It’s really discouraging.”

Buffington said he never found out if anyone was charged in connection with the blaze, but said when he looks around the neighbourhood where he lives and works signs of fire are everywhere.

“There is just a lot of brokenness in our city and especially in our area,” he said. Adding later: “It seems like it is getting worse.”

He worries for the people he helps as well, saying offering stability is hard against the backdrop of constant sirens.

“Not only does it bother me, but I think some of our guys worry about that,” he said.

Nathan Melrose has experienced the long-term effects of arson in a way few have. He’s friends with both 68-year-old Gregory George Thomas, who perished in a Young Street arson on February 12, as well as Michael Patrick Gordon, 40, the man police have charged with starting the fire.

“It’s heartbreaking,” he said of both Thomas’s death and the incarceration of Gordon. “It’s like losing two people.”

Melrose said the number of arsons being logged in Winnipeg is surprising. Although he doesn’t know what can be done to address the larger issue, he wants to ask his friend about what happened, as he’s still at a loss as to why police accused him of contributing to the statistics.

“My one question would be: ‘was it you that set the fire and if it was, why?’ Because I don’t see him setting his own place on fire deliberately,” he said. “I just can’t see it. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The United Firefighters of Winnipeg, representing those battling the blazes, says the fires plaguing the city are preventable and predictable.

Its president Nick Kasper said it’s the union’s position that there is a lack of political will to invest in the WFPS enforcement, even as the city is in what he said is “an arson crisis.”

“There is a major under-investment,” he said.

Kasper says the WFPS fire inspection and prevention branch, responsible for enforcing fire codes to prevent fires from happening, is “critically under-resourced.”

The Free Press requested to speak with a representative from the WFPS on fire trends in the city, but the interview request was not accommodated

The WFPS and city leaders have acknowledged the city is facing a growing problem around fires, showcasing efforts to slow the burn in October 2025, with strengthened collaboration between other city departments, the WPS, community organizations and businesses to align prevention, enforcement, and investigations.

In a statement this week, the WFPS said “that collaboration continues today—only now it’s more efficient. With modern systems, tools, and technology, we can coordinate in real time without being in the same room.”

The WFPS also said other factors are at play, including socioeconomic challenges like drugs and poverty, population growth and an older housing stock, the statement saying the city still has its focus on the fires.

“Our fire investigators work closely with the WPS major crimes investigators when a fire is considered suspicious. These investigators collaborate daily to determine the causes of fires, investigate suspicious incidents, and gather evidence that may lead to arrests and Criminal Code charges related to arsons.”

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca