Two fires overnight in Fort Rouge

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This article was published 22/07/2011 (5357 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two  fires occurred in Fort Rouge overnight in the vicinity of nine other fires during the last three months.

Fire trucks responded to a garage on fire at 660 Garwood Avenue just before 1 a.m., said platoon chief Brian Somers. The garage was “a total loss” Somers said, and the fire had also spread to three neighbouring garages and one car. There were no injuries; damage is estimated at $100,000.

Then, at 1:30 a.m.,  fire trucks were called out to a fire at 702 Scotland Avenue, just five blocks almost due south from the Garwood fire, Somers said. But this time, it was a house on fire. The fire began on the outside of the first floor of the house and spread to the interior. No one was hurt, but Somers said damage was around $150,000 in the fire.

The causes of both blazes are under investigation, Somers said.

He said the fire department has had to respond to an unusually high number of fires in that neighbourhood this year, but he couldn’t say if it was the worst hit – the core and North End also had several, he said.

To avoid tempting arsonists, Somers said residents of the city as a whole should call the city to pick up any old objects like lumber or furniture lying on their properties or nearby. “Keep the accumulation down in your back yard,” he said.

The Liberal MLA candidate for Fort Rouge has called on police cadets to patrol the area at night. Paul Hesse suggested a possible patrol time window of 11:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.

“There are repeated regular fires in a relatively small area and they all seem to occur at the same time of night,” he said.

Hesse said the cost of such a patrol would be much smaller than that of the damage the fires are incurring.

“And people will be able to sleep at night,” he said.

 William.burr@freepress.mb.ca