City, RM blame owner of Gunn Road lot for huge fire

The City of Winnipeg and Rural Municipality of Springfield are pointing the finger back at the owner of an industrial storage lot destroyed in a massive blaze last year.

The fire at the Gunn Road lot produced huge plumes of black smoke that could be seen across the city on the afternoon of May 12, 2025. The north Transcona blaze left melted metal, burned-out vehicle frames and soot on the property, where people rented plots to store and salvage old cars for parts and scrap metal.

The numbered company that owns the property, which filed a lawsuit against the governments arguing firefighting efforts were inadequate, was itself negligent and ignored fire risks, the city and RM argue in separate court filings.

Both deny all allegations of wrongdoing and ask for the lawsuit filed by 10104753 Manitoba Ltd., in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this year to be tossed out of court, the court filings say.

The company rented out parts of the property to others and stored its own vehicles there. The lawsuit claims the company lost more than $400,000 as a result of the alleged negligence and breaches. The RM argues the company exaggerated the extent of its losses and damages in its recently filed statement of defence.

The blaze began as a wildfire nearby before spreading to the property, where hundreds of old vehicles were engulfed in flames and destroyed. Some industrial buildings in the area were damaged, too. Springfield is adjacent to the lot, on the northeast edge of Winnipeg.

The municipal governments argue the company contributed to the fire’s spread by keeping the property in dangerous condition.

“The plaintiff appeared to be operating a vehicle deconstruction business with little or no regard for fire safety,” reads the city’s statement of defence. “The property is and was tightly filled with vehicles and toxic, combustible materials.”

The city alleges the company generally failed to adhere to the provincial Fire Act and Manitoba Fire Code. It also asserts the company failed to have appropriate fire safety and suppression systems in place, to properly store dangerous materials, to put in fire breaks and to address fire hazards.

The suit accuses the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and Springfield Fire and Rescue Services of having the resources and opportunities to extinguish the fire at 568 Gunn Rd., but failing to use them. The governments denied those claims.

The city argues attempting to fight the fire on the property itself would have been too dangerous, likely would have caused greater damage and put firefighters at risk. The RM, similarly, accuses the property owner of keeping the lot in dangerous condition.

“The nature of the vehicles stored on the property resulted in a fire burning too hot and with too much toxic smoke to allow the WFPS to directly attack the fire on the property,” reads the city’s court papers.

“The tight location of the vehicles on the property made it impossible for the WFPS to directly engage with the fire… without unreasonably risking the safety of individual firefighters, and the heat of the fire… due to chemicals stored by the plaintiff meant that attempting to extinguish the fire directly would not have been a reasonable use of resources.”

The company’s lawsuit alleges the city called in Springfield firefighters to help because of an inadequate water supply, which the city denied in its court filing.

“WFPS contacted dispatch and requested mutual aid from Springfield Fire and Rescue Services but says that the call was not because of a lack of available water supply but to supplement the city’s water supply,” reads the city’s filing.

Springfield also filed a cross-claim against the city, seeking to have Winnipeg held at least partially responsible for damages, if the court rules the RM is liable for any.

The matter has yet to be heard in court.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca