Pair of fires leaves one dead, three in hospital

One person is dead and residents of a Centennial neighbourhood apartment building are reeling after a fire in a second-storey suite Friday, the latest in a tragic string of fatalities connected to fires in Winnipeg in 2026.

At 1:24 p.m. crews were called to a fire at a two-storey apartment building in the 400 block of Ross Avenue, said a Saturday news release from Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

Firefighters got the blaze under control before 2 p.m., said WFPS, but one person was found dead inside the suite where the fire took place.

Fire officials have not released any information about the person killed, but neighbours present at the building over the weekend said the victim was a man regularly seen around the complex.

Earnestine Brooks helped her mom evacuate from the building shortly after the fire alarm went off and smoke started to pour from the vents.

“That’s when I started really panicking,” she said.

She said after finding her cat, she fled with her mom from the building, which was filled with dark smoke. The only thing on the 15-year-old’s mind: “just get her out.”

Speaking inside the building against the hum of fans clearing the smell of smoke, Brooks said the entire situation is shocking, calling the person who died a “pretty nice dude” despite not knowing him well.

Hilary Herrman said she heard yelling, then loud bangs in the suite where the fire took place on Friday. And while she tried to get the attention of whoever was inside once she realized it was ablaze, her efforts were unsuccessful.

“I was trying to knock on the door — but it was hot — so I was knocking on the wall,” she said. “No response whatsoever.”

When she got outside, she said the fire had already started burning out of the window, dumping black smoke in the process.

“I was like: ‘Oh my God, he’s still in there!’” said Herman, calling the fact that one of her neighbours is dead “horrible.”

The death is the third fire-connected fatality in just 46 days.

On Saturday afternoon, a large black streak remained on the side of the building, left behind by what video of the incident shows was a window frame filled with flames. The fire was actually the second time firefighters were called to the building on Friday as WFPS confirmed crews responded to an unrelated medical call at the same address about an hour earlier at 12:35 p.m.

Calls and messages sent to a listed property manager were not returned.

Hours after the fatal fire on Ross Avenue, crews were called to the 500 block of Flora Avenue at around 3:15 a.m., Saturday. There, they rescued three people from a two-storey house fire, who were then taken to hospital, including one in unstable condition.

The recent fatality brings the total number of deaths connected to fires up to 13 — where a person was killed due to, or found at the scene of a blaze.

Speaking before this weekend’s fire casualties, officials with the WFPS acknowledged there has been “a significant increase” in fire-connected deaths in the first half of the year.

Calling the upwards trend a tragic one, and offering condolences to those who have been affected, WFPS deputy chief Scott Wilkinson said the fire-connected fatalities are also putting pressure on front-line members working to protect the public.

“It’s extremely challenging and it takes a toll on all of our crews, our paramedics and our firefighters,” he said.

The deaths tied to fires are only part of the equation, he said, as fire crews are already “overwhelmed” by fire volumes and paramedics are dealing with a “massive” jump in calls due to the city’s drug-toxicity crisis. Crews are all working “extremely hard,” as a result he said, all against the backdrop of immense sadness.

“It’s tragically disappointing and it’s impactful,” Wilkinson said of the fatality-related blazes. “The goal is to be able to rescue people from a lot of these incidents when something occurs, but in many cases, by the time the notification comes in, they’re not always able to have that successful outcome, so it definitely takes an emotional toll.”

He said everyday, the aim of the department is to try and save lives, while working with multiple levels of government and stakeholders to address the larger, root causes of fire-connected fatalities to protect all Winnipeggers.

“Our crews take their job extremely seriously. Their goal, their mission and their focus is to not have a loss of life—and to help save people from these fires,” he said. “So it’s impactful and it’s traumatic when we face (these fires) at a level we’re seeing today and we’re really hopeful we can continue to make a difference and bring those numbers down.”

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca