Woman dies in River Heights house fire

A woman is dead after a fire destroyed part of a house in Winnipeg’s River Heights community.

Neighbour Russ Kolisnyk said he watched as fire crews battled the blaze at about 10:30 a.m. at 1076 Fleet Ave. Monday.

“They went into the back of the house with hoses, all of the other equipment, they were in their full gear,” the 61-year-old said. “Then we heard a person coming out and they came out the front door with her.”

A couple, believed to be in their 60s, lived in the home, another neighbour said.

Kolisnyk said he saw a man on the front lawn, looking “stunned” before he was guided away by firefighters after the woman was brought outside the house.

“They walked away with him and he started crying,” he said. Adding later: “Maybe he expected she was going to follow him out?”

Familiar with the design of the small bungalow, the neighbour from three doors down he said he believes the fire started in the kitchen.

One of the house’s windows was blown out with glass shattered below. Otherwise, there was limited visible damage from the outside.

Firefighters arrived at the scene to find smoke coming from the house, a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service release Monday said. Crews entered the home and had the fire under control about 20 minutes later.

The woman was found in the house and was declared dead at the scene. Her identity was not released.

Winnipeg Police Service officers were investigating Monday evening. The fire is believed to be accidental.

As of June, there were at least 13 fire-related deaths in Winnipeg this year, the WFPS previously said. An update was not provided Monday.

The couple’s next door neighbour, who asked to be identified as Neil H., said while he wasn’t a close friend of the victim, she was “extremely pleasant.”

“Extremely polite, nice and easy to get along with,” the man said. “That’s what you’re always looking for in a neighbour.”

He and the victim shared a small garden on their connecting lawn and said they bonded over caring for it.

“The deceased really enjoyed gardening,” he said. “She was out there constantly.”

Neil said while the fire was reported around the time he left for work, nothing seemed amiss.

“There was no smoke coming out of the house or anything,” he said.

His understanding is that the couple were close, had a “solid relationship” and were well-known in the neighbourhood.

“It’s kind of like the Ozzie and Harriet type thing,” he said, referencing the 1950s sitcom. “They just took care of things together. Like I said; pleasant people.”

The Fleet Avenue blaze was not the only fire that crews battled Monday. Earlier in the day, paramedics assessed four people who escaped a fire that affected two houses in Winnipeg’s North End.

At approximately 1:45 a.m. crews were called to the 800 block of Redwood Avenue, where a fire spread from a one-and-a-half-storey house to a neighbouring home and two garages, WFPS said in a news release.

Firefighters sprayed water from outside the structures until it was safe enough to enter both houses to fully extinguish the flames. The fire was declared under control shortly after 2:35 a.m.

The occupants of both homes fled before firefighters arrived. None had to be taken to hospital after being assessed at the scene.

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca