Careless smoking blamed for $5M apartment fire

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This article was published 25/08/2010 (5809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG —  A fire Tuesday afternoon in a downtown apartment complex appears to have been caused by careless disposal of smoking material, such as a match or cigarette, police said today.

The blaze started on the roof of a two-storey annex building next to an apartment building at 400 Webb Place, just feet from the north entrance to Portage Place Shopping Mall.

Three people were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation.

Early estimates had pegged damages at around $1million; those estimates are now in the vicinity of $5 million, police said.

Residents of the apartment building attached to the annex were forced to leave the building overnight.

“We had 400 Webb Place totally evacuated last night because the emergency systems were inoperable due to water in the basement,” Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Platoon Chief Stephen Sumka said Wednesday.

Sumka added that City of Winnipeg Social Services, along with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Winnipeg Police Services, the Salvation Army and the property managers were working to “make sure that the needs of the evacuees are taken care of.”

He said re-entry to the high-rise later today was a “possibility,” pending the reactivation of safety systems in the building.