St. Vital fire causes more than $1 million in damage

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This article was published 14/02/2016 (3799 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The police arson unit is investigating a fire Sunday which destroyed a St. Vital bathroom renovations business and caused more than $1 million damage.

No one was injured.

The industrial building housing El Dorado Trading Centre in the 400 block of St. Mary’s Road was obliterated in a Sunday morning fire which smothered the surrounding residential neighbourhood in thick smoke.

“Damage is estimated at excess of $1 million,” police Const. Jason Michalyshen said Monday. “The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time. Members of the Winnipeg Police Service Arson Unit continue to investigate.

“Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact investigators at 204-986-6813,” said Michalyshen.

The building on the east side of St. Mary’s Road once housed the former PlayAll sports trophy store — whose sign was still prominent on the roof. It was engulfed in flames and thick smoke Sunday morning, after a passer-by spotted the fire around 11 a.m.

Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby Minute Muffler store and homes east of St. Mary’s Road.

Crews trying to get inside the building quickly determined it was too dangerous to enter the single-storey cinderblock building, so they used a defensive strategy to knock down the flames from the outside. There were people inside the building when the fire started, but they made it out safely and there were no reports of any injuries, a city spokeswoman said.

Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Service acting platoon chief Morris Semkowski said the building, despite continuing to display the PlayAll Sports sign, hadn’t been a trophy shop for 14 years. It was owned by the El Dorado Trading Centre and was being used for storage.

Semkowski said the building contained plenty of flammable material.

“They renovated bathrooms; There’s a lot of cabinets, countertops, cardboard, packing,” he said.

There were no dangerous chemicals found in the building, a city spokeswoman said.

At least 15 emergency vehicles were on scene and flames were still pouring out of what’s left of the former trophy shop more than an hour after the fire was spotted.

Streets in the area are closed for at least six blocks from the fire scene, and police were directing traffic around Carriere Avenue.

Some homes in the area were evacuated as acrid, grey-brown smoke blew in a northeasterly direction over surrounding residential streets, where visibility was reduced to only a few metres.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca