Vulcan Iron Works burns again

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This article was published 25/02/2024 (559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A vacant industrial building in North Point Douglas burned yet again Saturday evening, marking the latest blaze to strike the property since it was destroyed in an inferno last July.

Fire crews responded to a multi-storey industrial building on Sutherland Avenue between Maple Street North and Argyle Street North around 6:37 p.m., the City of Winnipeg said in a release.

The property is home to the former Vulcan Iron Works foundry.

“When crews arrived at the scene today, they found heavy smoke and flames coming from parts of the structure. Due to the dangerous conditions, crews were not able to make entry,” the city said.

Firefighters attacked the blaze from outside the building, using aerial ladders and thermal imaging drones to identify hotspots and douse flames with water. They were expected to remain on scene overnight as they worked to extinguish the fire.

As of Saturday night, no injuries had been reported and the fire remained under investigation, the city said.

The property was previously gutted by a fire on July 4, 2023. It burned again two months later.

“Following the July fire, the building was considered to be a complete loss due to extreme fire, smoke and water damage with large sections of the building left partially collapsed. Several other minor fires have occurred at the location since then,” the city said.

The fire-ravaged structure has remained in the form of a charred steel shell and huge piles of rubble in the months since the first blaze.

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While city officials ordered the property owner to clean up the site in September, Sheldon Blank appealed, stressing he can’t get a demolition permit due to a provincial stop-work order linked to health and safety concerns about possible asbestos in the rubble.

Earlier this month, city council’s property and development committee adjourned the appeal — deferring a vote until April 22 while Blank negotiates with the province.

Antoine Hacault, Blank’s lawyer, told the committee the province’s order legally trumps the City of Winnipeg’s order.

Hacault said Blank is trying to meet with the province to sort out any demolition issues as soon as possible.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.