Pembina Highway highrise fire investigated

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This article was published 21/12/2019 (2316 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The cause of a dramatic fire on the top of a highrise apartment building, which is under construction on Pembina Highway, is being investigated.

More than 100 firefighters were summoned on Saturday to fight the blaze in the 16-storey building. Building materials on the upper floors caught fire around midnight, sending up thick smoke and huge flames.

One firefighter sustained a minor hand injury while battling the two-alarm fire.

At the height of the blaze, burning embers blew off the roof of the highrise and landed on the street, said Ihor Holowczynsky, assistant chief of fire rescue operations with the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

“It was fully involved. It was quite dramatic,” Holowczynsky said.

Construction crews building the Arc student residence at 2525 Pembina Hwy. had suspended work for the Christmas break. Security personnel was on site at the time, Holowczynsky said.

No damage estimates were available. Holowczynsky said most of the damage was on the upper floors, where materials used for pouring and forming concrete, such as plywood, styrofoam and tarps — appeared to have burned.

Crews couldn’t get water to the top of the building to extinguish the blaze because the on-site water supply hasn’t been fully installed, and they decided it was unsafe to try to fight the fire from inside, Holowczynsky said. The fire department used aerial ladders and a drone to battle the blaze.

“It was a difficult situation; trying circumstances between the cold and the wind. I think the crews performed admirably, as expected,” he said.

The planned student-housing complex near the University of Manitoba’s main campus was under development by Campus Suites.

Reached in Toronto on Saturday morning, Campus Suites president Henry Morton, who is originally from Winnipeg, said his team is gathering more information about the situation. He expects to be in Winnipeg on Sunday to assess the damage and determine next steps.

“We’re just glad no one got hurt,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. It’s just a building. Buildings can be replaced. We’re really thankful for the efforts of the fire department and Coun. Janice Lukes, who was out there.”

The building had been on track for its planned September 2020 opening, he said, adding that the response to the project had been overwhelming. The company has received more than 300 inquiries from hopeful residents.

In a statement, the construction company, Ledcor, thanked the fire department for its work to contain the fire and said the company is thankful no one was seriously injured.

“At Ledcor, safety is our top priority. We are working cooperatively with the fire department and Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health to determine the cause and assess the damages caused by the fire,” the statement read in part.

Police evacuated nearby residences as a precaution because of an overhead crane at the site of the fire, but those residents had returned to their homes by late Saturday morning.

Over 30 machines, and over 100 firefighters over 2 shifts were dispatched to fight this High-rise fire, and it is still an active scene. Fire stations in almost all areas of winnipeg were affected by this incident in some way. #NeverOffDuty pic.twitter.com/HE4tSdsuof

— UFFW L867 (@UFFW867) December 21, 2019