Firefighters find body in rooming house

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This article was published 20/04/2023 (1201 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police are investigating after a body was found in a Flora Avenue rooming house by firefighters who were putting out a blaze early Thursday.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service was called to the two-storey building at 612 Flora Ave., near McGregor Street, at about 12:45 a.m.

While working on the fire, crews found the victim and called police. Paramedics treated a woman for non-life threatening injuries at the scene.

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said police “assume nothing” about a fatality, but at this point, there’s no indication of a criminal element to the death.

“We’re going to dot our I’s and cross our T’s to fully understand what we’re dealing with,” Michalyshen said.

“If we’re in a situation where members of our major crimes unit are involved in the initial investigation and that fatality appears to be criminal in nature, of course, members of our homicide unit may become involved or likely will become involved. That’s not the case here.”

The police major crimes unit is typically tasked with leading investigations into all fire deaths, whether or not they are suspicious.

Michalyshen said police haven’t yet confirmed the identity of the deceased person.

Police have asked anyone with information to call the unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.

The front lawn of the rooming house was blocked off with yellow caution tape mid-day Thursday, and a police officer watched over the scene from a cruiser parked nearby.

Andres Valenciano, 43, who lives next door with his wife and children, said they woke up to sirens and lights of emergency responders after midnight.

“We heard some yells, we saw the ambulance and then fire trucks were connecting to the hydrant on the front,” said Valenciano.

“When I woke up this morning, there were still cop cars in the front.”

He described the rooming house as “sketchy” because vehicles regularly stop outside for short periods of time; drivers go in and out quickly.

The neighbour said he was sad to hear about the death, adding there had been a homicide at the rooming house a few years ago.

Christopher Helstrom, 27, originally of Teulon, was stabbed in the building on July 13, 2019. A man who had been charged with second-degree murder in Helstrom’s death was acquitted in 2021, when a judge accepted his claim of self defence.

The Flora Avenue death is the third fatality related to a fire in Winnipeg this year.

In the first case, firefighters found Star Alicia Thomas, 23, seriously injured following a blaze at the Adanac Apartments on Sargent Avenue.

She died in hospital and her death was deemed a slaying. Joey Robertson Lecoy, 26, has been charged with second-degree murder.

On April 14, firefighters found the body of a man while battling a blaze in a garage behind a home on the 500 block of Mountain Avenue.

The victim has not been publicly identified.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera