Another blaze hits former Vulcan Iron Works site amid ongoing rebuilding efforts

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This article was published 18/05/2024 (476 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An industrial building destroyed by fire last year — that has been a target of fires since — saw yet another two blazes burning its remains early Saturday morning.

Sheldon Blank, owner of the former Vulcan Iron Works site, insisted he’d been preparing to rebuild the eastern portion of the property.

“Now I’ll have to go see what’s what,” he said dismally on Saturday.

The hulking structure sits between Maple Street North and Argyle Street North on Sutherland Avenue. Its skeletal remains, and piles of debris, lay behind fences.

In April, Blank told the Free Press he’d applied to the city for a demolition permit. North Point Douglas residents, and the area’s city councillor, have called the space a safety hazard and an eyesore.

Blank is convinced thieves are taking copper from the remaining walls.

“(They) burn the building so they can get to the copper,” he said. “You’ve got people running around Winnipeg that are not being punished for the crimes they commit.”

Fire crews quenched flames at the industrial building last February.

They were called to the structure again at 1:02 a.m. Saturday. The blaze was considered under control at 2:14 a.m.

Less than three hours later, crews were called again to address a fire. The fire was put out by 6:11 a.m.

The major blaze gutting the former Vulcan Iron Works building led to home evacuations within a three-block area last July.

The building itself nearly spanned a city block.

Blank said on Saturday he’d been working with engineers, who had told him the site was structurally sound to rebuild.

On May 13, the City of Winnipeg issued a permit for partial demolition of the 40,000 sq. ft. warehouse.

The site had an order noting it was in unsafe condition, which was dated Sept. 5, 2023. Portions of the overall building were not to be demolished, according to public city records.

Blank planned to visit the former Vulcan Iron Works Saturday to survey the new damage. A Free Press reporter informed him of the double blaze, he said.

Leaving the destroyed warehouse is an “expensive proposition” because there’s an ongoing cost, Blank told the Free Press last April.

At the time, he was waiting on a demolition permit. He’d asked the city to allow him to dump hundreds of tonnes of bricks at the Brady Road landfill without charge.

He’d been instructed to dispose of the bricks in an asbestos landfill site, he said. The province’s workplace safety and health division had issued a stop-work order because of the possible presence of highly toxic asbestos.

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“He’s trying to make us seem like the bad guys,” said Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) last April. “I want him to stop playing games and get the site cleaned up.”

Ron Watts, a neighbour to the destroyed building, described an increase in fires “all over the place.”

Vulcan Iron Works occupied the building until the mid-1970s. It moved its operations to another Winnipeg site after being purchased. Different companies have used the space since.

– With files from Chris Kitching

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle 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.