Suspicious fire causes more than $1 million in damage

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This article was published 09/08/2011 (5350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A suspicious fire overnight at a townhouse-style apartment block in St. James-Assiniboia has left multiple families without a home and local residents on edge.

Fire crews were called to the blaze in the 200 block of Fairlane Avenue at about 4:40 a.m.

“The alarm didn’t go off. I’m not impressed,” said Lynda Kidd, who lives in one of the apartments with her 13-year-old son and her 72-year-old mother. “If it wasn’t for firefighters banging on our door I wouldn’t have woken up.”

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Fire and paramedic service officials said the blaze started outside the apartment block and moved up the exterior wall to the roof. The flames then spread inside a vacant unit.

In all, eight suites sustained fire, water and smoke damage and residents will be out of their homes for months, officials said.

There were no injuries.

“They just tested our fire alarms a few weeks back,” said Kidd as she stood on the street with her son wrapped in blankets Tuesday morning as fire crews worked.

She says there has been a pile of wood and other debris sitting where the fire is alleged to have started, and that construction has been ongoing at the apartments where workers often left lumber outside.

The arson task force is investigating.

Tuesday morning neighbours milled around in bathrobes and pyjamas, comforting one another and talking.

“I said to my husband, look, there’s steam coming up,” said Adele Peterson, who has lived in her Fairlane Avenue home across the street from the apartments for 37 years. She noticed the fire around 4:20 a.m. and watched it spread. “It just zoomed up there.”

“Everybody helps everybody. We keep an eye on each other,” said Peterson of the tight-knit community. She said the apartment block is home to many seniors and families.

While she calls the neighbourhood quiet, a recent increase in fires has her nervous. “You just sort of worry about it.”

Peterson said there was a fire in the same building 30 years ago, leading to enhanced safety measures in the large apartment building.

District Fire Chief Dale Dreilich said the fire was well underway when crews arrived. He said the blaze is considered suspicious and the investigation is ongoing.

Damage is estimated at $1 million to the structure and $200,000 to contents.

Winnipeg police have closed part of Fairlane Avenue, between Cavalier Drive and David Street, while the investigation continues.

Video on our YouTube channel: Apartment fire on Fairlane causes huge damage